Hear are the top things to know in women’s health and wellness so far this week:
The American Cancer Society officially backed at-home swab testing for cervical cancer for women at average risk. Goodbye speculums (at least for that test.)
KFF Health has a great round-up of all the ways the Trump administration is making it harder to have a baby, despite offering “bonuses” and planning to cut some IVF drug costs.
Halle Berry was speaking at the same conference as Gov. Gavin Newsom...and she called him out on stage for failing to sign menopause legislation into law.
JUMP TO…
EVERYTHING
What: The Trump administration says it is promoting childbirth through policies like a $1,000-per-child “baby bonus” and discounted fertility drugs, in an effort to increase the declining U.S. birth rate. That clashes with the same administration gutting Medicaid and Obamacare, childcare programs, and Planned Parenthood clinics that serve women around the country with low-cost screenings. Experts also note that similar policies abroad have failed to increase birth rates.
Key Line: “Medicaid work requirements, for instance, put in place by the Republicans’ One Big Beautiful Bill Act…will lead to extra paperwork and other requirements that, according to the Congressional Budget Office, will cause millions of eligible enrollees to lose coverage. Medicaid covers more than 4 in 10 births in the U.S. The measure also cuts federal funding for a national program that provides monthly food benefits. Almost 40% of recipients in fiscal 2023 were children. GOP spending cuts and staffing freezes have hampered Head Start, a federal education program that provides day care and preschool for young, low-income children, even as U.S. adults implore the government to curtail ballooning child care costs.”
Source: KFF Health News
What: In a randomized trial of over 20,000 girls, researchers found one dose of the HPV vaccine prevented infection as effectively as two doses over five years. Vaccine effectiveness against these types stayed at or above 97%, with no safety concerns reported. Results support the World Health Organization’s plan to expand single-dose vaccination to improve access and cut cervical cancer risk worldwide.
Key Line: “One dose of either a bivalent or nonavalent HPV vaccine provided protection against HPV16 or HPV18 infection and was not inferior to two doses.”
MENSTRUATION
What: Women’s Health has a deep dive into the TikTok trend that is presenting the luteal phase of menstruation as a time when women become unstable or unproductive. Alas, those memes oversimplify menstrual biology and reinforce sexist narratives. Experts cited say scientific evidence shows no universal mood or behavior drop during this phase—normal inflammatory changes—and warn that such content can blur the line between typical cycles and serious health issues.
Key Line: “‘In this content, it’s implied that extreme symptoms apply to all menstruators. They say the menstrual cycle itself is a debility, almost like it’s an illness or a problem to work around. People are conflating normal menstruation with conditions such as endometriosis.’ That, [Dr. King] warns, can make accessing medical support even harder, due to medical misogyny – when clinicians minimise or normalise severe pain in female patients.”
Source: Womens Health
MENOPAUSE
What: Halle Berry criticized California Gov. Gavin Newsom for vetoing bipartisan menopause care bills two years in a row, saying his actions show he undervalues women in midlife. Berry was speaking at the New York Times’ DealBook Summit, where Gov. Newsom was scheduled to talk after her. The California bills would have expanded insurance coverage for menopause evaluation and treatment and created medical training requirements on the topic.
Key Line: “‘Back in my great state of California, my very own governor, Gavin Newsom, has vetoed our menopause bill, not one but two years in a row,’ Berry said Wednesday at The New York Times’s DealBook Summit. ‘But that’s OK, because he’s not going to be governor forever.’”
Source: The Hill
ONCOLOGY
What: The American Cancer Society released new guidelines endorsing self-collected vaginal swabs as an acceptable way to test for HPV, the virus that causes nearly all cervical cancers. The move follows the first federal approval of an at-home self-swab test earlier this year and builds on more than a decade of data showing the method’s accuracy. Experts say wider use could expand screening access and help move toward ending cervical cancer in the United States.
Key Line: “‘Screening rates often drop off as women age out of their reproductive years and stop regularly seeing an obstetrician or gynecologist, Dr. Smith said. But approximately 20 percent of cervical cancers are diagnosed in women 65 and older, and these women tend to have worse outcomes. Self-collection provides an opportunity for more women to be more current with their screenings, at all stages of life. ‘Cervical cancer is in fact a disease that we can eliminate in our lifetimes,’ Dr. Kobetz said.”
Source:New York Times