Tonight: what abortion bans cost the economy, a fertility benefit with a six-figure ceiling, and more.
— Meghan McCarthy
p.s. How many OBGYNs get menopause training in residency? Try your luck on our trivia question below.
ABORTION BANS MAY BE A $68 BILLION DRAG ON THE ECONOMY
The 16 states with abortion bans or severe restrictions cost the US economy about $68 billion a year, according to an Institute for Women's Policy Research analysis. They also found women lost earnings at more than $140 billion in 2025, up $7 billion from its 2024 estimate. The model ties most of the loss to women pushed out of the workforce or into lower-paying work. Lifting the restrictions, it estimates, would draw roughly 325,000 more women into the labor force each year, with Black and Latina women absorbing the steepest costs.
ABORTIONS KEPT RISING AFTER THE BANS
Four years after Dobbs, the count of abortions in America has gone up every year, even as more states banned the procedure, NPR reports on the anniversary of the Supreme Court decision. The driver is medication abortion mailed across state lines under shield laws, which has largely offset the closure of clinics in ban states. The result is a map where the legal status of abortion and the actual availability are quite different.
THE FERTILITY BENEFIT WITH A SIX-FIGURE CEILING
A proposed federal rule would let employers offer fertility coverage as an "excepted benefit," a separate side policy capped at $120,000 over a worker's lifetime. Critics warn that because excepted benefits sit outside the Affordable Care Act, they can implement things like the very dollar cap the ACA bans, leaving patients with fewer protections if a costly IVF cycle blows past the limit. Backers say it gives companies an easier path to add IVF coverage. The rule is open for comment through July 13 and, if finalized, takes effect for 2027 plans.
THE CERVICAL PROCEDURE YOU MAY NOT NEED RIGHT AWAY
Women with moderate cervical precancer often have a procedure known as LEEP, which cuts out a cone of cervical tissue (and is linked later to preterm birth). National Cancer Institute researchers found that cutting it out within six months did not lower three-year cancer risk compared with watchful monitoring. They analyzed data from over 12,000 women. This isn't about skipping colposcopy, which continues either way. It's that for many women, careful follow-up is a reasonable alternative to immediately removing tissue.
MOST IVF EXTRAS STILL LACK GOOD EVIDENCE
Many fertility clinics offer optional IVF "add-ons" — extra tests, procedures, medications, or techniques sold alongside a standard IVF cycle in hopes of improving the chance of having a baby. But a new review of clinical trials found little evidence that most actually work. Researchers found only weak evidence supporting three commonly offered add-ons (EmbryoGlue, endometrial scratching, and physiological ICSI), while the rest either showed no benefit or lacked enough high-quality data to draw conclusions. The authors say patients need clearer, independent information before paying for treatments that can add thousands of dollars to an already expensive IVF journey.