Tonight: a one-week reprieve from an abortion pill ban, the missing check-up for postpartum women, and more.
— Meghan McCarthy
SCOTUS GIVES US WOMEN ONE MORE WEEK TO ACCESS ABORTION PILL
The Supreme Court restored mail access to mifepristone Monday, blocking a 5th Circuit ruling from last week that would have ended telehealth-prescribed delivery. The reprieve isn’t long—it only runs through May 11 with briefs due Thursday. Mifepristone is used in roughly 60% of US abortions.
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THEY GOT WHAT THEY WANTED. THEY'RE FURIOUS ANYWAY.
Meanwhile, the antiabortion movement is publicly turning on Trump, frustrated that abortion pills remain widely available a year into his second term, despite a Republican White House and a reshaped Supreme Court. Activists, donors, and lawyers say the administration hasn't followed through on promises to restrict mifepristone or enforce an 1873 law that bans the post office from sending “obscene” items.
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TWO IN THREE NEW MOTHERS WITH HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE GET NO FOLLOW-UP
Just 35% of women who develop high blood pressure during pregnancy get a preventive doctor's visit in the year after giving birth, according to a Massachusetts All-Payer Claims analysis presented at the ACOG annual meeting. High blood pressure during pregnancy is one of the strongest predictors of women's later cardiovascular disease, and the postpartum year is one of the few moments their care team is actively watching.
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A FILTER, NOT A DRUG, FOR PREECLAMPSIA
In a small study, a Cedars-Sinai team used a dialysis-like blood filter to remove a placental protein that can drive severe early preeclampsia, and extended patients' pregnancies by about 10 days in a 16-woman international trial. Right now, the main treatment for severe early preeclampsia is delivering the baby, which can force extremely premature infants into the NICU. The Nature Medicine paper offers the first targeted treatment for one of the leading causes of maternal and fetal death.
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TIKTOK: ONCE AGAIN OFFERING BAD MENOPAUSE ADVICE
Women on social media are stacking over-the-counter antihistamines like Allegra with Pepcid to treat hot flashes and brain fog. CNN's Dr. Leana Wen points out that menopausal symptoms are mostly driven by estrogen-related changes in the brain's temperature regulation, not histamine, and no clinical trials support the hack. FDA-approved nonhormonal hot-flash drugs already exist.