Tonight: the Trump administration rewrites what "family planning" means, Florida hides data on why its mothers are dying, what happens when women with complex chronic illnesses turn to AI, and more.
TITLE X, BUT MAKE IT PRETEND BIRTH CONTROL // The Trump administration took its another formal step to eliminate federal funding for contraception last week, issuing new guidance that could kick providers like Planned Parenthood out of the program (again). Politico reports that in the nearly 70-page document there is “no mention of contraception other than an assertion that it is overprescribed, has negative side effects, and is part of a broader ‘overreliance on pharmaceutical and surgical treatments.’ The guidance instead promotes ‘natural family planning methods,’ such as period tracking apps and other forms of fertility awareness that have higher failure rates than hormonal birth control.”
FLORIDA SAT ON MATERNAL DEATH REPORTS // Florida Department of Health quietly posted years of delayed maternal mortality reports only after a reporter from the Florida Trib began asking questions. The state’s Maternal Mortality Review Committee—tasked with analyzing pregnancy-related deaths—had not publicly released findings since 2020. The committee operates with limited transparency (no regular public meetings or agendas), and when asked whether it would assess the impact of Florida’s six-week abortion ban, a spokesperson said policy analysis is “not in the purview” of the group. Black women in Florida remain more than twice as likely to die from pregnancy-related causes as white women.
ABORTION BANS ARE PUSHING OUT TRAINEES // We covered this when the study came out in March, but Stateline has a good deep dive on how applications to residency programs (once again) dropped more sharply in states with abortion bans—down about 4% in the 2023–2024 cycle versus <1% in states where abortion remains legal, per the Association of American Medical Colleges. In Idaho, roughly a third of obstetric providers have left since 2022. Reporting from Stateline captures why: trainees describe being unable to provide standard miscarriage or ectopic pregnancy care under current laws—and not wanting to practice where legal risk is part of the job. Many of these same states were already short on maternity care.
WOMEN WITH DIABETES ARE MISSING BASIC CARE // A University of California, Los Angeles-led review in the Journal of General Internal Medicine finds women with diabetes are less likely to receive routine preventive care, such as contraceptive counseling, preconception counseling, and cancer screenings, than women without diabetes. The preconception gap is especially stark across studies, with very low counseling rates overall. Researchers point to siloed care: diabetes visits crowd out broader women’s health needs.
WHEN MEDICINE FAILS, WOMEN TRY AI // A New York Times investigation finds some women with complex chronic illness are turning to tools like ChatGPT and Claude after years of missed or delayed diagnoses. In several cases, patients used chatbots to surface conditions later confirmed by doctors—but the pattern is messy. AI tools hallucinate, can reinforce bad information, and perform inconsistently, especially without expert prompting. It’s not that AI (always) works, it’s that patients feel they’ve run out of other options.