Get the top three things to know in women's health + wellness, every weekday:

who is “so into women’s health?”

the top things to know in women’s health and wellness today:

  • Donald Trump will cast his own ballot in Florida tomorrow. A reminder: Trump said he will vote to KEEP the state’s six-week abortion ban, which takes effect before women typically know they are pregnant.
     
  • Meanwhile, Trump keeps saying he will put vaccine conspiracy theorist RFK Jr. in charge of women’s health. Just tonight, Trump said he told RFK Jr. he could “do whatever you want…work on making women’s health, he’s so into women’s health…it’s such a passion.”
     
  • ProPublica had yet another story of a woman dying due to lack of care while pregnant. This time, it was 18-year-old Nevaeh Crain in Texas. She died of sepsis on the day of her baby shower.

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EVERYTHING

Trump Promises Conspiracy Theorist RFK Jr. Will Run Women’s Health

What: RFK Jr. would “work on women’s health” in a second Trump administration, according to the former president. At one point during the campaign RFK Jr. backed a national abortion ban, and he regularly spreads debunked conspiracies about childhood vaccines. And Trump is so committed to RFK Jr. running women’s health he repeated the line at a rally tonight.

Key line: “’This is the same man who said women should be punished for their choices,’ Ms. Harris said at her rally in Phoenix on Thursday afternoon. ‘He simply does not respect the freedom of women or the intelligence of women to know what’s in their own best interest and make decisions accordingly. But we trust women.’”

Source: New York Times, Twitter

FERTILITY

Russian Women Have to Report Sexual Activity for Fertility Gains

What: Russian dictator Vladimir Putin is concerned about low fertility rates in the country, a hobby horse he shares with billionaire Elon Musk and Trump VP candidate JD Vance. Women in Moscow government jobs are now required to answer a questionnaire about what birth control they use, among other intensely personal questions, as part of an effort to boost the country’s fertility.

Key line: “The dozens of personal questions, which are not anonymised, include: ‘At what age did you start having sex? Do you use a condom during sexual intercourse? Do you use hormonal contraception (eg birth control pills)? Do you have pain during intercourse? Do you have any bleeding from your sexual life? Do you suffer from infertility?’ Other questions ask whether the woman taking part in the survey has ‘any sexual diseases’ and the age they started menstruating.”

Source: Mirror

PREGNANCY + POSTPARTUM

Choice in Birthing Position Tied to Satisfaction

What: A study looks at which birthing position (i.e. lying down, standing up) women prefer most in labor, measured in part by which women report the highest levels of satisfaction with their labor. Researchers surveyed over 700 new moms and found the majority gave birth lying down, and of that group 37% said they had no choice in the position. They were among the least satisfied, too. 

Key line: “Particularly noteworthy is the high number of women who did not choose the birth position themselves and an associated lower level of satisfaction with birth. Despite the relevance of shared decision-making in the field of obstetrics, there still seems to be room for improvement, at least in terms of birth position.”

Source: Archives of Gynecology and Obstetrics

ABORTION ACCESS

Reminder: Donald Trump Will Be Voting to Ban Abortion Tomorrow

What: A reminder from August: Donald Trump votes in Florida, and after much waffling, he said he would back the state’s six week abortion ban.

Key line: “Trump has said he thinks Florida’s ban is a mistake and said in an interview with Fox News Channel on Friday, ‘I think six weeks, you need more time.’ But then he said, ‘at the same time, the Democrats are radical,’ and he repeated false claims he has frequently made about late-term abortions and said that he opposed allowing abortions up until nine months.”

Source: Associated Press