The U.S. Supreme Court is expected to announce its decision on a case, which could upend abortion access across the country. The topic is a source of fiery debate, and one reason could be because of our anxiety about death.

At a webinar hosted by the Seattle-based Ernest Becker Foundation, panelists discussed the link between the anthropologist's work on terror-management theory and the issue of abortion.

Dr. Emily Courtney, social psychologist at the University of South Florida, said people manage their anxiety about death by constructing worldviews, such as religions, ideologies and political orientations. But it also makes people defensive when their worldview is challenged, making topics such as abortion more divisive.

"The fact that we deal with the death anxiety by putting more of our own kind of personal stake in the ideologies that we've adopted as human beings," Courtney explained. "When those things are threatened, we take a step back and things get a little bit more intense when we do confront those issues."

A leaked Supreme Court opinion on the Mississippi abortion case showed justices could be preparing to overturn the 1973 Roe v. Wade case, which legalized abortion.

Regardless of the ruling, the option will remain legal in Washington state.

Courtney pointed out death is a large part of terror-management theory, but there are other components to our fear of death, including existential threats to our identity and autonomy. Courtney noted threats can present themselves when someone is not able to make the choice to get an abortion.

"So by limiting those choices, you're presenting more of an existential threat to specific groups of people," Courtney emphasized. "Women, people who may be marginalized in society, people who may be in different socio-economic tiers who could simply not support children."

Dr. Lindsey Harvell-Bowman, associate professor at James Madison University and director of the Terror Management Lab, explored more hopeful messages of empathy and trying to neutralize the terror-management defense which can come up on issues such as abortion.

She recommended humanizing people on the other side of this issue from you, and using communication as a way to get there.

"We're all humans," Harvell-Bowman stated. "We all end the same way, and so really in order to enact change we have to engage in meaningful conversations with each other without completely ruining the other side."

The Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services has seen a $15 million cut to its Behavioral Health Division this year and more cuts are being proposed, despite soaring demand for mental health and addiction treatment programs.

DHHS now faces a $25 million cut to help fund property tax relief.

Behavioral Health Specialists in Norfolk provides short-term residential treatment for substance use disorders.
Neil Broders, executive director, said the COVID pandemic may have contributed to the mistaken assumption any unspent funding must not be needed.

"Really, why a lot of places weren't able to pull down their funding and use it, it wasn't because the demand wasn't there," Broders pointed out. "It's because trying to find staff the last four to five years -- it was a difficult period."

Some Nebraska agencies have spent years rebuilding their staff following COVID. Broders explained they have had to compete with national companies who can pay more and allow people to work remotely. He pointed out employers, especially in smaller communities, have had to increase wages and work harder to recruit and retain staff.

Broders added their residential program only recently became fully staffed for the first time in four years.

"We now have the staff to be at 58 beds and are full," Broders reported. "We receive over 100 referrals a month for those 58 beds. So, we have the staffing now to serve the clients, and the clients are there."

The multi-program CenterPointe, based in Lincoln, has seen a similar increase in demand in the past year.

Topher Hansen, JD, president and CEO of the nonprofit, said their primary care clinic served 500 more people, and they provided over 2,000 additional hours of outpatient clinic care, at least partly because they were able to fill some open positions.

"But the more staff we get, the more availability we have, the more people that come in the door," Hansen observed.

More than half the people CenterPointe served in the last fiscal year reported annual incomes of less than $1,000.

Hansen acknowledged funding for mental health and addiction recovery is not always politically popular, but he stressed it is often a fiscally sound move. He pointed to their "Alternative Response" program, which works with the Lincoln Police Department to send a CenterPointe team, rather than a uniformed officer, for nonviolent welfare checks.

"We have done over a thousand of those in the last year and saved officer time every single time," Hansen emphasized. "We've cut the emergency protective custody incidents in half. We've housed a dozen people, and decriminalized being unsheltered."


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Montana is spending $300 million to improve mental health services in the state.

Experts are focusing on six key areas.

Montana's mental health care services took a hit in 2017 during an economic downturn, and Matt Kuntz - executive director of the National Alliance on Mental Illness, Montana - said the state is trying to come back from that.

New data released by what's known as the 872 Commission recommends the state bolster services in key areas - including investing in more mental health crisis beds, securing more funding sources, and getting more resources into Montana classrooms.

"It's important because it's a really great place for the kids to be able to access the care without disrupting their schooling," said Kuntz, "and it also gives the schools the ability to help their students get the care that they need."

The 872 Commission will make its recommendations to state legislators when they convene in January.

Kuntz said some of the commission's recommendations will require ongoing funding.

He said the state is already working to re-establish the mental health services the state needs, which suffered dramatically during the 2017 budget shortfall.

"And it was really heavily impacted in ways that we haven't quite dug out from yet," said Kuntz, "and they were only compounded during COVID."

The 872 Commission also recommends funding for forensic mental health evaluations and expanding group homes. Its report and recommendations are open for public comment.




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Researchers have announced a new blood test that will predict whether someone has Alzheimer's disease far better than current tests can. A new law in Iowa will make sure it's covered by insurance.

The Alzheimer's Association says the blood test is 90% accurate in informing people showing signs of cognitive impairment if they have the disease.

Iowa Chapter Communications Director Lauren Livingston said it's a huge step beyond the memory tests doctors currently use.

"Very good news," said Livingston. "It was about 30% to 40% higher accuracy rate with the blood test, versus just the physicians using a memory screening."

Livingston said patients must have a certain amount of "tau" in the brain, a protein that is an Alzheimer's precursor, to qualify for the test.

Iowa passed a law this year that requires state-funded health insurance companies to cover tests for dementia biomarkers, like tau in the blood.

Livingston said positive blood tests could boost recruitment for Alzheimer's clinical trials and reduce wait times for assessment.

There is no cure for the disease, but Livingston said early detection means a person can take drugs to slow its progression.

She said the test can be especially helpful outside Iowa's metro areas that have larger health care centers.

"Especially to rural Iowans who don't have as much access to specialists and these tests," said Livingston. "It would be much, much easier for them to be able to get a diagnosis if there was a simple blood test available."

Some 62,000 Iowans suffer from Alzheimer's disease. Nationwide, the number is close to 7 million, although the Alzheimer's Association says the disease is underdiagnosed.

Livingston is hopeful the test is available in health care settings in the near future.




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