Here’s what caught our eye this week on women’s health. Stay tuned for Sunday, where we’ll have a quick look-back at women’s health in 2025 and predictions for 2026. 👀
EVERYTHING // The New York Times runs down nine myths/bad assumptions in women’s health. No surprises here, it includes things like not knowing the typical signs of heart attack in women, how cardiovascular problems that occur in pregnancy can stick with women as they age, to the idea that incontinence is uncommon.
ABORTION ACCESS // Some good news on the abortion access front! A Kentucky prosecutor decided to drop a fetal homicide charge against a woman accused of taking abortion medication, saying state law clearly shields pregnant women from such charges. (Often abortion ban states go after providers or anyone who “assists” a girl or women to get an abortion, not the women herself…yet.)
CARDIOVASCULAR // Yet another potential biomarker (very high lipoprotein(a)) has emerged for identifying women with a higher risk of heart disease. Researchers say: hey maybe we should screen for that more often.
ABORTION ACCESS // Double good news edition! Wyoming’s state Supreme Court struck down two near-total abortion bans, ruling that abortion is a fundamental healthcare right under the state constitution. It was a sharp rebuke to legislators who now want voters to weigh in.
PREGNANCY // Automatic pregnancy testing in ERs is a common practice. It can help medically, but this viewpoint from JAMA points out that it’s a risky mix in the post-Dobbs era when that data can be weaponized against women.