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EVERYTHING
ProPublica Wins Pulitzer for Women Who Died Waiting for Abortion
What: ProPublica won the Pulitzer Prize today for their reporting on several women who died as a result of abortion bans in their states. The Texas Senate recently passed a bill "clarifying" their abortion ban, in large part because of ProPublica's reporting.
Key Line: “The 'Life of the Mother' series, which ProPublica continues to pursue, is a landmark investigation into the unexamined, irreversible consequences of state abortion bans. Kavitha Surana, Lizzie Presser and Cassandra Jaramillo mined hospital and death records in states whose strict abortion bans threatened physicians with prosecution. From the tragic death of Amber Thurman in Georgia to gutting accounts of women denied lifesaving miscarriage care in Texas, the investigations illuminated the profound human cost of these policies."
Source: ProPublica
Still No Clarity on Women’s Health Initiative Funding
What: Stat reports that despite claims from the Trump administration that the massive Women’s Health Initiative study would be funded (after they tried to cut it), it is still in jeopardy.
Key Line: "So what’s the problem? Contract officers from the NHLBI’s Office of Acquisition are operating on the April decision to cut off funding. 'Nothing has changed contractually,' a federal official told Garnet Anderson, who leads the WHI’s coordinating center, last week. STAT has requested comment from NHLBI."
Source: Stat
Trump Calls for Crippling Cuts to Science Funding
What: President Trump's proposed budget for 2026 includes drastic cuts to major federal science agencies. These cuts would hit millions of dollars in women's health research. The president's budget, however, is simply a suggestion for Congress, which actually determines how much funding each agency will receive.
Key Line: "Trump is proposing a $18 billion cut at NIH, or roughly 37% assuming a $48.5 billion budget for 2024 ...Some of NIH’s 27 institutes and centers would be merged into five new institutes focused on 'body systems,' neuroscience, general medical sciences, disability research, and behavioral health. ...Although not mentioned in the document, a previously leaked draft left intact the National Cancer Institute, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, and the National Institute on Aging. ARPA-H would remain intact."
Source: Science
PREGNANCY + POSTPARTUM
Prenatal Cannabis Use Linked to Higher Odds of Adverse Neonatal Outcomes
What: An updated meta-analysis in JAMA Pediatrics reviewed a total of 51 studies to see if using marijuana during pregnancy affects newborns. They continued to find an association between cannabis use and increased risks of premature birth, low birth weight, or being small for gestational age.
Key Line: "Using cannabis in pregnancy was associated with increased risk of adverse neonatal outcomes; health care professionals should include this in their patient counseling, and increased public health measures are needed to raise awareness on safety of use."
Source: JAMA Pediatrics
MENOPAUSE
Menopause Might Become Optional for Women
What: Vox's Anna North has a deep dive on menopause, looking at experimental procedures to slow ovarian aging and the drug rapamycin. She also examines whether this is a goal worth pursuing--and what the consequences might be.
Key Line: "As appealing as the idea of extending a person’s healthy lifespan is, I can’t quite get past the ovary of it all. I, too, have heard from post-menopausal people about the liberation they feel when they exit their reproductive years. I, too, have at times been frustrated by doctors’ focus on my reproductive capacity over other aspects of my health. I want to be healthy as I get older, but I also want to accept my aging (and for the people around me to accept it), rather than feeling constant pressure to stave it off. ...When I shared some of these concerns with Williams, he asked me if I’d feel the same trepidation around treatments that focused on other areas of the body. 'You want to extend normal heart function, liver function,' he said. But 'for some reason, if you say, we want to slow ovarian aging, that touches on a very different note.'"
Source: Vox
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