When Executive Directives And Public Health Ethics Collide

Editor’s Note

This article is the latest in the Health Affairs Forefront featured topic, “Health Policy at a Crossroads.” Articles in this topic will offer timely analysis of regulatory, legislative, and judicial developments in health policy under the Trump-Vance Administration and the 119th Congress.

As widely reported in the news and on social media, several of the new Administration’s recent policy directives have been blocked by the courts. These actions have triggered discussions among Constitutional scholars and other legal experts about the role of the Executive Branch and the separation of powers across the U.S. government as outlined in the Constitution. Without minimizing the important legal dimensions of these issues, we propose that there is another, equally important,...