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FERTILITY
Senate Republicans Vote Down IVF Protection Bill
What: Senate Republicans voted down federal protections for IVF, even after Alabama’s state supreme court briefly ended the practice in the state by saying frozen embryos were people. Every Republican senator voted against the bill except for two.
Why it matters: For voters heading to the polls this November, now they know whether their representatives were willing to protect fertility options from the extreme religious right.
Source: NBC
PREGNANCY + POSTPARTUM
Figuring Out Miscarriage’s Mysteries
What: Miscarriage is common, happening in as many as 50% of pregnancies. But we know little about why they happen. PBS looks at the researchers trying to change that, including the STORK test which was recently approved to analyze “tissue from a miscarriage to identify the genetic reason for a loss.” They also dive into current placenta research, which found “most of the miscarriages [in the study] were marked by dysmorphic chorionic villi (DCV), a category that includes abnormal placental folds.”
Why it matters: “While there’s no one-size-fits-all answer to why miscarriages occur, researchers hope these advancements help add more tools for patients and providers.”
Source: PBS News Hour
MENSTRUATION
Malaria Drug Offers Hope for PCOS Patients
What: It was a small study, but NewScientist reports that a medication used to treat malaria, artemisinin, “improved the regularity of their menstrual cycles and lowered their testosterone, which is often too high” in people with PCOS.
Why it matters: “Elisabet Stener-Victorin at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden, says the fact that artemisinin is already generally safe when used for malaria means it could be quickly turned into a new treatment for PCOS.”
Source: NewScientist
ABORTION ACCESS
Abortion Pill Challenge Could End Up Right Back at SCOTUS
What: The Supreme Court rejected a case that would’ve restricted access to the abortion pill—but only on a legal technicality. New York Times’ Pam Belluck reports that the “case is likely to be revived with different plaintiffs,” including the states of Missouri, Idaho, and Kansas.
Why it matters: In addition to the case continuing with states at the helm, “the decision will also fuel efforts to restrict abortion pills in other ways. One recent example involved Louisiana classifying abortion pills as Schedule IV drugs”.
Source: New York Times
How Many More Women Traveled for Abortions
What: The New York Times breaks down data from the Guttmacher Institute showing that more than 171,100 thousand women traveled for abortions in 2023. That is a more than 200% increase since 2019, when Roe vs. Wade was still in effect.
Why it matters: “Many traveling patients faced multiday trips, lost income and child care costs. Some patients were unable to travel. Earlier research found that in the first half of 2023, almost a quarter of women living in states with near-total bans — who may have otherwise sought an abortion — did not get one.”
Source: New York Times
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