Tonight: NIH funded studies are still failing to collect sex-based data, abortion bans leading to more pregnancy deaths, and more.
HOPE FOR PLANNED PARENTHOOD MEDICAID FUNDING?
Congress is back and fighting over funding Planned Parenthood. The House Republicans want to cut Planned Parenthood from Medicaid reimbursements, but the supposed point of the current bill being considered is to just focus on immigration. In an interesting twist, an amendment from Sen. Josh Hawley, who has been fixated on all things anti-abortion, saw his amendment to continue blocking Medicaid funding for Planned Parenthood get voted down (with help from Republicans.) Roughly 2 million patients a year use PP for contraception, STI testing, and preventive services.
A DECADE AFTER NIH REQUIRED SEX DATA REPORTING, MOST FUNDED RESEARCH STILL ISN'T DOING IT
A review of nearly 600 NIH-funded studies published between 2017 and 2024 found only 44% reported results broken down by sex, despite a 2016 policy requiring researchers to include sex as a biological variable. Sixty-one percent of the studies did include both sexes in their samples, but they didn’t analyze or report differences. In other words, we still don’t know if drugs work differently, what side effects women face, or whether dosing should change—gaps that quietly shape clinical care anyway.
STUDY: ABORTION BANS INCREASED DEAD PREGNANT WOMEN
Researchers analyzed national vital statistics from 2016 to 2023 and found a potential 9% increase in pregnancy-associated deaths in the 14 states that imposed abortion bans, equivalent to roughly 68 more women dying by the end of 2023 than predicted. The study only found the increase during pregnancy, not in labor or postpartum. Researchers acknowledged data limitations make definitive conclusions difficult, but pointed out that more births lead to risks far greater than abortion.
MAYBE MONEY IS THE PROBLEM?
The New York Times reports that rising housing, child care, and everyday costs are pushing couples to delay or skip altogether having kids. They point to survey data, cost trends, and economic research showing finances as the main driver. The U.S. fertility rate is near record lows, and it’s still unclear whether any policy fix changes the math.
PAUSING ENDOCRINE THERAPY TO GET PREGNANT DOESN'T WORSEN OUTCOMES
A trial of about 500 women with hormone-receptor-positive early breast cancer found that pausing endocrine therapy to try to get pregnant did not increase their risk of recurrence. Most participants successfully got pregnant (76%) and had live births, with complication rates in line with typical pregnancies. Cancer outcomes were similar to women who didn’t pause treatment, and even those who used IVF or other fertility treatments didn’t see worse results—offering some of the strongest reassurance yet for patients weighing family planning during treatment.