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EVERYTHING
Texas Pregnant Women Die at Much Higher Rates After Abortion Ban
What: The number of women who died during pregnancy or soon after increased 56% in Texas from 2019 to 2022. Across the nation the mortality rate increased only 11%, suggesting that Texas’ state law essentially banning abortion, which passed in 2021 nearly a year before Roe fell, is responsible for the difference.
Why it matters: “’There’s only one explanation for this staggering difference in maternal mortality,’ said Nancy L. Cohen, president of the GEPI. ‘All the research points to Texas’ abortion ban as the primary driver of this alarming increase. Texas, I fear, is a harbinger of what’s to come in other states,’ she said.”
Source: NBC News
Women, Migraines, and the Role Hormones Play
What: Wired has a deep dive on the role hormones play in migraines, and how they could explain why women are significantly more likely to get them.
Why it matters: “Even today, an element of sexism persists in migraine treatment, with women less likely to be prescribed medication than men. ‘Characterizing it as a women’s disease is sometimes a means of dismissing it,’ Lipton says. Even though women are more likely to see a doctor for their migraine, and more likely to be diagnosed with migraine, ‘men diagnosed with migraine are more likely than women with migraine to be treated.’”
Source: Wired
ABORTION ACCESS
Trump Tells Women They Won’t Think About Abortion After He Banned It
What: Donald Trump’s presidency led to the banning of abortion access for nearly 1/3rd of American women, which has led to the maimings and deaths of women for the simple fact that they were once pregnant. But the candidate said in a late night, all caps screed over the weekend that if he is elected again “YOU WILL NO LONGER BE THINKING ABOUT ABORTION.”
Why it matters: This is outrageous coming from the man who said he was proud of bringing down Roe vs. Wade. Trump knows women being maimed and dying because of his policies is unpopular, but instead of doing something constructive about it, he just tries to say it won’t matter. Trump says crazy things constantly, but this was so delusional it felt necessary to highlight.
Source: Twitter
The College Junior Who Spent a Year + Under House Arrest for a Miscarriage
What: A college junior in South Carolina spent 22 days in jail and faced 20 years to life in prison for a second trimester miscarriage that landed her in the hospital. Amari Marsh was charged with murder and homicide by child abuse for having a miscarriage in her apartment’s bathroom. In August, after 13 months under house arrest, a grand jury chose not to bring her case to trial. She was free.
Why it matters: “Marsh’s case is a ‘prime example of how pregnancy loss can become a criminal investigation very quickly,’ said Dana Sussman, senior vice president of Pregnancy Justice, a nonprofit that tracks such cases. While similar cases predate the Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision, she said, they seem to be increasing. ‘The Dobbs decision unleashed and empowered prosecutors to look at pregnant people as a suspect class and at pregnancy loss as a suspicious event,’ she said.”
Source: CNN
ONCOLOGY
Race, Income Appear to Limit Access to Immunotherapy Treatment for Aggressive Breast Cancer
What: Black patients with an aggressive form of breast cancer known as “triple-negative” were less likely to get a treatment known as immunotherapy than white patients. Researchers found a 11% lower rate for immunotherapy for Black patients, but that dropped once adjusted for socioeconomic factors.
Why it matters: “Freeman noted that this suggests that socioeconomic factors might be the main barriers to immunotherapy access for Black patients with early-stage TNBC, but he acknowledged that the data represent an early snapshot since immunotherapy for early-stage TNBC was not approved until mid-2021. …’A key finding of our study is that Black patients with metastatic TNBC were less likely than white patients to have received immunotherapy, but when they did receive immunotherapy, they had a similar overall survival rate as white patients,’ said Freeman. ‘This tells us that receiving immunotherapy may help mitigate racial differences in the survival of patients with metastatic TNBC.’”
Source: American Association for Cancer Research
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