Tonight: judges in the delivery room, more data on early menopause effects on the heart, one of the craziest abortion ban bills I’ve seen thus far, and more.
— Meghan McCarthy
GOP WANTS YOU TO CATCH FETAL TISSUE IN A BAG // You read that right! A bill from several House Republicans would require women to collect pregnancy tissue and blood in a biohazard "catch kit" and return it to the doctor who prescribed their abortion pill. Doctors who don't comply would face up to five years in prison. This isn’t going anywhere soon, but collecting expelled tissue is an extreme we haven’t seen in federal legislation lately (ever?).
EARLY MENOPAUSE IS A HEART PROBLEM // Women who stop menstruating before age 40 have a 40% higher risk of coronary heart disease, according to a JAMA Cardiology study published this week. Black women are three times more likely than white women to experience premature menopause, making the disparity one of the study's most pressing findings. Researchers don't yet know whether early menopause causes the elevated risk or signals it, but they say it should now be part of cardiovascular prevention conversations.
TRUMP WOMEN’S HEALTH CONFERENCE GETS KOOKY // KFF Health News reports that at the Trump administration’s inaugural women’s health conference, panelists promoted “restorative reproductive medicine” and raised concerns about hormonal birth control, while one physician affiliated with an anti-abortion institute said doctors should begin discussing future fertility with girls as young as 8.
A JUDGE DECIDED HOW THEY GAVE BIRTH WHILE IN LABOR // Two women in Florida with previous C-sections who wanted vaginal deliveries were instead subjected to emergency court hearings while in active labor, after their hospitals asked the state to override their medical decisions. ProPublica documents both cases and connects them to a broader pattern: Florida courts have ruled that pregnant patients can be forced into unwanted procedures, and a bill now moving through the state legislature could further expand fetal personhood protections.
HALF OF WOMEN WORLDWIDE AREN'T GETTING BASIC HEALTH SCREENINGS // The fifth annual Hologic Global Women's Health Index places the U.S. 13th globally, underscoring persistent gaps in women’s health outcomes even in high-income settings. There is some progress: testing rates for blood pressure, diabetes, and cancer all reached their highest levels since the Index began.