who needs infertility research anyway?

• The Trump administration has now cut more than $50 million from women's health research, an increase of more than 50% over the past two months. See Maternie's updated analysis here, and don't miss major cuts to pregnancy and infertility research.
   
  • 👉If you want more reporting like this more often, please take my one question poll here. Let's build women's health media together.
     
• On that note, the founder of a major national IVF clinic explains exactly why it's bad HHS Sec. Kennedy cut the CDC team that actually tracked IVF clinic success rates.
   
• One way to get better menopause info? In Wisconsin, they just might require docs to provide it.

— $1.9 million to UC San Francisco to study the “immunological, epigenetic, and developmental determinants of early pregnancy success”, i.e. infertility causes

— Nearly $661,000 to the University of Texas to study gene mutations that lead to uterine fibroids

–$1 million to Washington University to study antibiotic treatments for pregnant women with UTIs..."

Bill Cassidy's Vaccine Didn't Work

What: The Atlantic looks at the role of Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy, a doctor from Louisiana, in allowing HHS Sec. Kennedy to wreak havoc on the nation's vaccine infrastructure. Sen. Cassidy voted to impeach Trump after January 6 and faces a tough primary ahead of the midterms, a political calculation that led him to approve Kennedy's nomination. 

Key Line: "In the speech he gave on the Senate floor explaining his decision, Cassidy said that he’d vote to confirm Kennedy only because he had extracted a number of concessions from the nominee—chief among them that he would preserve, 'without changes,' the very CDC committee Kennedy overhauled this week. Since then, Cassidy has continued to give Kennedy the benefit of the doubt. On Monday, after Kennedy dismissed all 17 members of the vaccine advisory committee, Cassidy posted on X that he was working with Kennedy to prevent the open roles from being filled with 'people who know nothing about vaccines except suspicion.' The senator has failed, undeniably and spectacularly.”

Source: The Atlantic
 

IVF Clinic Explains What We Lost When CDC Team Was Cut

What: The founder of CCRM Fertility, a national chain of fertility clinics, has an op-ed in Stat calling for more regulation in the IVF industry, particularly in the wake of the Trump administration cutting CDC's IVF oversight group.

Key Line: "Without the CDC’s Assisted Reproductive Technology Surveillance team, that transparency is all but lost and subject to marketing. Of particular concern is the potential for certain clinics to disengage from the Society for Assisted Reproductive Technology, thereby circumventing established standards of accountability. This withdrawal could enable the spread of inaccurate or deliberately misleading data, which could help clinics prioritize profitability over ethics."

Source: Stat
 

Supreme Court Takes Case on Anti-Abortion 'Crisis' Pregnancy Center

What: The Supreme Court paved the way for a "crisis" pregnancy center case to be considered in their next term, which begins in October. The center is challenging a subpoena from New Jersey's attorney general into the clinic's practices, arguing that it violates their right to free speech.

Key Line: "Crisis pregnancy centers provide services to pregnant women with the goal of preventing them from having abortions. Such centers do not advertise their anti-abortion stance, and abortion rights advocates have called them deceptive. The case provides a test of the ability of state authorities to regulate these businesses."

Source: The Guardian
 

Requiring Docs to Provide Menopause Information

What: A bipartisan bill in Wisconsin would require health care providers to offer patients education on menopause and perimenopause. By creating informational materials, the bill seeks to reduce stigma and provide accurate information based on scientific evidence.

Key Line: "It’s important to remember and realize that half of the population is going to experience this at some point and this is a natural process that happens just like puberty. But there’s no fourth grade health class for menopause, other than coming to your doctor with questions. Hopefully having more educational materials available will help."

Source: Wisconsin Public Radio