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EVERYTHING
Over 400 Pregnant People Charged Since Roe Fell
What: A Pregnancy Justice report found prosecutors in 16 states brought over 400 cases against pregnant women since Roe vs. Wade fell, mostly tied to alleged substance use. Alabama accounted for nearly half the prosecutions, relying heavily on a “chemical endangerment” law that can lead to decades in prison. Researchers say the total is likely higher, and warn these prosecutions highlight the growing push to grant fetuses legal rights despite public health groups opposing criminalization of addiction in pregnancy.
Key Line: “’This ideology around giving rights to embryos and fetuses is not theoretical,’ Sussman said. ‘It has real-world implications, devastating implications for the rights of pregnant people.’ Sussman noted that in 15 states during the 2024-25 legislative cycle, bills were introduced that would create or allow homicide charges for people who have abortions.”
My Take: The antiabortion movement continues to be focused on piecemeal attacks to achieve what they know they can’t accomplish (for now): outright banning abortion nationally.
Source: NBC News
Acetaminophen Use in Pregnancy: Swedish Study Finds No Causal Link to Autism or ADHD
What: A JAMA editor interviewed Brian Lee, the author of a study that reviewed 2.5 million Swedish births and then tracked children for over 20 years. Initial associations between prenatal Tylenol use and autism, ADHD, or intellectual disability *disappeared* once they looked at sibling outcomes and other confounders. The findings contrast with recent FDA warnings but align with WHO guidance and other large-scale studies showing inconsistent evidence.
Key Line: “So, we wanted to test whether this statistical association was real or not, and the way we did this was that we did a sibling control analysis. Basically, we can compare, within the same parents, siblings where one was exposed to acetaminophen in the womb and one was not. …When we do the sibling control analyses, all of the statistical associations completely disappeared. In other words, the associations did not appear to be causal.”
My Take: The general public largely doesn’t understand correlation vs. causation. That is what makes what Trump and RFK Jr. so dangerous — they are taking advantage of the lack of knowledge on scientific study to push an unproven theory. (This is just like when Trump pushed Ukraine’s president in his first term to just “announce” an investigation into Hunter Biden and he’d take it from there. A brand name (or person) provides him the veneer of credibility to confuse and convince.)
Source: JAMA
FERTILITY
Human Eggs from Skin Cells: Progress but Far from Ready
What: Scientists at Oregon Health & Science University, led by Shoukhrat Mitalipov, tried to create human eggs from skin cells but found the method consistently produced eggs with abnormal chromosome numbers. In mice, their approach had previously resulted in three healthy pups, but none of the 82 fertilized human eggs developed correctly. Researchers say the process is nowhere near clinical use, but its long-term potential could reshape infertility treatment and reproductive options.
Key Line: “’It kind of partially works, and partially doesn’t,’ Mitalipov told STAT.”
My Take: It’s a fun science read, but it was also covered as a success in several other news outlets because they created eggs at all. TLDR: how you frame something really matters.
Source: StatNews
PREGNANCY + POSTPARTUM
Modeling the Health Impact of Stopping COVID Vaccination in Pregnancy
What: Researchers found that removing COVID-19 vaccination during pregnancy could lead to preventable hospitalizations for over 7,000 infants under 6 months and over 3,000 pregnant women. Even low vaccine coverage (15%) would prevent hundreds of infant and maternal hospitalizations, and at higher coverage the benefits could grow substantially.
Key Line: “Vaccination during pregnancy confers direct protection to newborns through transfer of maternal antibodies, conferring passive immunity to the infant for approximately 6 months, and is associated with significant reductions in infant hospitalizations.”
My Take: American hospitals are already strapped — the new recommendations from HHS will not help anyone, especially the women and children.
Source: JAMA
CARDIOVASCULAR
The Silent Killer That Could Be Causing Heart Attacks in Women
What: Vice looks at the Mayo Clinic study that found clogged arteries caused 75% of heart attacks in men, but only 47% of women. The authors warn that misdiagnosis leads to wrong treatments and argue doctors need to broaden their understanding of what causes heart attacks, especially in women.
Key Line: “So, what’s causing the other 53 percent? Spontaneous coronary artery dissections, or SCAD. That’s when blood sneaks into tears in artery walls. Women are nearly six times more likely to suffer from them than men. There were also embolisms and stress-related triggers like anemia, all of which tend to get misdiagnosed or ignored entirely.”
My Take: This is a major finding, and it’s good when any consumer-focused outlet breaks it down for readers.
Source: Vice
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