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New York Gov. Kathy Hochul wants to add a requirement that people videotape their requests for physician-assisted deaths, one of several conditions she’s put forward to sign the hotly debated Medical Aid in Dying Act.

The Democratic governor proposed the amendments to the Legislature late last month, according to two people briefed on the negotiations but not authorized to speak publicly about them. Talks are ongoing, the people said.

The amendments are Hochul’s first foray into the wrenching debate over the topic, which has prompted lawmakers to share personal stories that touch on religious faith, individual liberty and their own experience caring for dying loved ones.

“I hear from a lot of people on that issue,” Hochul told reporters recently. “There are strong views on both sides of the spectrum — intense views on this. And I’m conscious of that, and it’s going to be a very weighty decision on me.”

Hochul is also pushing to create a seven-day waiting period for terminally ill patients who seek life-ending drugs from physicians. Another proposed provision would require all patients who ask doctors to help end their lives to undergo a mental health evaluation by a psychiatrist.

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A federal judge on Tuesday blocked U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration from enforcing in 22 states a provision of the Republican’s signature tax and domestic policy bill that would deprive Planned Parenthood and local affiliates that perform abortions of Medicaid funding.

U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani in Boston said a group of Democratic state attorneys general who had challenged the provision were likely to succeed in establishing that the law constitutes an unconstitutional retroactive condition on their participation in the Medicaid healthcare program.

Talwani called the law “impermissibly ambiguous,” and said that allowing it to remain in effect would “increase the percentage of patients unable to receive birth control and preventive screenings, thereby prompting an increase in states’ healthcare costs.”

The judge, who was appointed by Democratic President Barack Obama, issued a preliminary injunction that covers the 22 states that sued to challenge the provision led by California, Connecticut and New York, as well as the District of Columbia. But she put her ruling on hold for seven days to allow the Trump administration to appeal.

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The Trump administration is backing Monsanto in its effort to get the Supreme Court to shield it from liability over cancer claims related to its Roundup weedkiller, a move that could anger the Trump administration’s allies in the Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) movement.

The Trump administration filed a brief with the Supreme Court arguing that lawsuits alleging that Monsanto failed to warn consumers of the health impacts of its Roundup weedkiller are preempted by federal law.

The brief comes in support of Monsanto’s effort to get the Supreme Court to overturn a lower court’s ruling that the company had to pay damages for failing to warn about its product’s health impacts.

The Trump administration’s brief notes that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) considers Roundup ingredient glyphosate not likely to be cancer causing and has approved its use.

It says that states should not be able to impose further requirements that give rise to failure-to-warn lawsuits.

“The labeling requirements imposed by Missouri’s failure-to-warn law are preempted by [the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act,]” the brief states.

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A flavorful spice used in many dishes and even medicine has also shown promising results in other areas of health.

Researchers at Osaka Metropolitan University led a clinical trial with 22 adults who had five grams of black cumin seed powder each day for eight weeks, and they showed a decrease in bad cholesterol and an increase in good cholesterol, showing the same outcomes as cholesterol-lowering medications.

The 20 adults in the control group with no cumin showed no changes in cholesterol.

The study’s authors said some participants also experienced weight loss with taking black cumin seed powder. They also suggested that at least a spoonful of cumin powder a day could ultimately boost cardiovascular health, lowering the risk of future heart problems.

“This study strongly suggests that black cumin seeds are useful as a functional food for preventing obesity and lifestyle-related diseases,” said Akiko Kojima-Yuasa, a professor and study author. “It was so gratifying to see black cumin comprehensively demonstrate actual, demonstrable blood lipid-lowering effects in a human trial.”

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The North Dakota supreme court revived the state’s abortion ban on Friday, once again making it a felony for doctors to perform the procedure except in medical emergencies or in some cases of rape or incest.

The supreme court’s decision reverses a lower-court ruling from last fall that had frozen the ban, in part on the grounds that its exceptions were unconstitutionally vague. Although three of the court’s five justices agreed with the lower court, they fell short of the supermajority needed under state law to declare laws unconstitutional.

“This decision is a devastating loss for pregnant North Dakotans,” Meetra Mehdizadeh, senior attorney at the Center for Reproductive Rights, said in a statement. The center represented the plaintiffs in the case, which included multiple doctors and an abortion clinic that has moved out of North Dakota and into neighboring Minnesota.

“This decision is a devastating loss for pregnant North Dakotans,” Meetra Mehdizadeh, senior attorney at the Center for Reproductive Rights, said in a statement. The center represented the plaintiffs in the case, which included multiple doctors and an abortion clinic that has moved out of North Dakota and into neighboring Minnesota.

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As a gerontologist who has helped countless older adulhttps://thehill.com/opinion/healthcare/5617927-congress-medicare-reform-dangers/ts navigate the Medicare maze, I’ve seen how one enrollment decision can shape someone’s quality of life for decades. That’s why the new legislation before Congress, H.R. 3467, should alarm anyone who cares about protecting older Americans’ health and autonomy. 

The bill, sponsored by Rep. David Schweikert (R-Ariz.) and introduced in May, would automatically enroll new Medicare beneficiaries into the lowest-premium Medicare Advantage plan available in their ZIP code unless they actively opt out. Even more troubling, it would lock them into that plan for three full years, limiting their ability to switch back to traditional Medicare or select a new plan except under narrowly defined hardship circumstances.

At first glance, “auto-enrollment” sounds efficient, with fewer decisions to make at a confusing time. But when you dig deeper, this proposal removes freedom rather than simplifying a decision. Many would find themselves stuck in private insurance plans they never chose, possibly unable to access trusted doctors, specialists or hospitals outside their network. 

Older Americans are far from a uniform group. Their health, medications and financial circumstances vary dramatically. Yet H.R. 3467 assumes everyone will benefit from being placed in the cheapest available plan.

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