Tonight: What’s actually happening in perimenopausal brains, the senator officially targeting the abortion pill, Wall Street’s interest in women’s health — plus more.

THE BRAIN FOG IS REAL, BUT NOT WHAT YOU THINK // A study examining over 14,000 women ages 45 through 55 found perimenopausal and postmenopausal women report significantly more cognitive symptoms, such as brain fog and memory lapses, than premenopausal women. But objective cognitive testing showed almost no meaningful decline — and those symptoms were more strongly linked to mood, anxiety, and sleep than to measurable cognitive deficits.

WALL STREET FINALLY NOTICING (AGAIN) // The Health of Women Investor Summit at Nasdaq drew major pharma, VCs, banks, and other investors, a sign women’s health has made the move from edge case to capital priority. Funds in the space have grown 6x since the summit began, and McKinsey estimates that improving women’s health could add more than $1 trillion a year to the global economy, reflecting how large — and long overlooked — the gap is.

ABORTION PILL OFFICIALLY TARGETED IN CONGRESS // Republican Sen. Josh Hawley introduced legislation to strip FDA approval from mifepristone, the pill used in roughly 63% of US abortions. This is unlikely to get serious consideration in the Senate, as the Trump administration has tried to avoid unpopular abortion restrictions before the midterms. But expect it to become the new litmus test for Republicans. Keep in mind that the FDA says the drug is safe, backed by 25 years of data and a serious-complication rate under 1%.

…AND THE STORY FEW PREDICTED // The New York Review of Books has a deeply reported history of how the number of abortions has risen every year since 2022, even after the Supreme Court ended Roe vs. Wade. The answer isn’t a surprise to readers: it’s the abortion pill and telehealth. But the piece explains in great precision how we got here. (And why people like Hawley are targeting the pill.)

THE MENTAL HEALTH CRISIS HIDING INSIDE MENOPAUSE // Most women still aren’t aware menopause can affect mental health — a UK survey found only 28% knew it could trigger depression or anxiety. Meanwhile, evidence suggests perimenopause raises the risk of first-time major depression by ~30%, underscoring how often these symptoms are missed or misdiagnosed.

Tonight: what happened to federal food programs after states banned abortion, why pregnancy complications can haunt your heart for years afterward, botox at Planned Parenthood (plus more).

— Meghan McCarthy

ABORTION BANS INCREASE SPENDING // A study found states that had fully banned abortion at the start of 2023 saw birth rates rise nearly 2%, with around 14,500 additional births that year. At the same time, enrollment in WIC, a federal food program, increased over 4% for postpartum women and more than 2% for infants in those states, adding nearly $7 million in food costs across 13 states that year. The catch? The WIC budget is not set to absorb everyone who qualifies — meaning increases can lead to waiting lists.

PREGNANCY COMPLICATIONS CAN HAUNT THE HEART // Another reminder that pregnancy can shape long-term health: A study finds women who had complications like preterm birth or hypertensive disorders and who reported higher stress during and after pregnancy had slightly higher blood pressure two to seven years later, compared to women with lower stress. The effect was modest (about a 2 mm Hg difference), but researchers say the findings highlight the need for cardiovascular monitoring after complicated pregnancies, not just care during pregnancy itself.

BOTOX SAVING PLANNED PARENTHOOD? // The New York Times digs into life at a Planned Parenthood clinic that’s pivoting to aesthetic procedures to keep the lights on. Reporter Alisha Haridasani Gupta covers a clinic in Sacramento that has started offering Botox injections and IV hydration treatments — pricing Botox at about $9 per unit, roughly 25–40% cheaper than many nearby medical spas.

WHY PREGNANT WOMEN ARE TURNING TO CANNABIS // A study analyzing national data found that just under 4% of pregnant women report using cannabis, and most say they’re trying to manage symptoms — especially mental health issues (83%) and nausea or gastrointestinal distress (77%). The findings suggest cannabis use during pregnancy may often reflect untreated symptoms like anxiety, nausea, or pain, raising questions about whether the health system is offering pregnant patients enough safe and effective alternatives.

A BLOOD TEST THAT SEES DEMENTIA COMING — DECADES OUT // A JAMA Network Open study found a blood biomarker linked to Alzheimer’s disease could flag women at higher risk of dementia up to 25 years before symptoms appear. Researchers analyzed blood samples from nearly 2,800 women collected in the late 1990s and found that higher levels of p-tau217, a protein fragment tied to early Alzheimer’s changes, were strongly associated with later dementia.

Tonight: how a White House press conference kept a trusted medication from thousands of pregnant women, what your mammogram might already know about your heart, (yet) more data showing abortion ban states are losing future doctors, and more.

— Meghan McCarthy

THE PRESIDENT IS A BAD PRESCRIBER // Last September President Trump told pregnant women at a White House briefing to avoid Tylenol, claiming without evidence that it causes autism. A new Lancet study tracked what happened next: ER acetaminophen orders for pregnant patients fell 10%, while orders for non-pregnant women didn’t change. Untreated fever in pregnancy increases the risk of miscarriage, neural tube defects, and preterm birth; the researcher who led the study called it “thousands of women not getting pain control or fever reduction when they need it.”

YOUR MAMMOGRAM IS DOING MORE THAN YOU THINK // A study of over 120,000 women found AI analysis can identify “arterial calcification” in routine mammogram images, helping them accurately predict heart attack, stroke, and heart failure risk (even in women under 50.) Nearly 70% of American women have had a mammogram, but fewer than 40% know their own cholesterol levels. Researchers are pushing for FDA review to make this a standard dual-purpose screen.

PERIMENOPAUSE TREATED LIKE AN AFTERTHOUGHT // Nature has a deep dive on how the vast majority of research on hormone therapy was conducted on postmenopausal women — not perimenopausal ones, whose hormones are still fluctuating. The resulting knowledge gap has been filled by an unregulated market of supplements, testosterone protocols, and other treatments with no long-term safety data.

BLOOD PRESSURE, NOT AGE // Life-threatening conditions caused by pregnancy, such as eclampsia, acute kidney failure, and sepsis, increased in the US between 2016 and 2022. The driver isn’t older mothers, but high blood pressure, either during pregnancy or before, and obesity. High blood pressure alone accounted for nearly a third of the total increase. The researchers’ conclusion: if you want to prevent these crises, the time to act is before a woman gets pregnant, not when she’s already on the delivery table.

STATES THAT BAN ABORTION ARE (YET AGAIN) LOSING FUTURE DOCTORS // After Dobbs, applications to residency programs in abortion ban states dropped sharply, particularly for specialties like OBGYN, family medicine, internal medicine, and emergency medicine. The study looked at 24 million applications across more than 4,000 programs and found states with the strictest bans are making themselves harder to staff.