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EVERYTHING
White House Directing $100 Million to Women’s Health Research
What: First Lady Jill Biden announced the first major project for the White House Initiative on Women’s Health Research today, directing $100 million from ARPA-H (Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health) to women’s health research. The next step will be ARPA-H developing focus areas and soliciting ideas.
Why it matters: According to Biden, the funding will go to “life-changing” work done by researchers and startups that are struggling to get private support.
Source: AP, Axios
FERTILITY
Major Alabama Hospital Cancels IVF Procedures
What: Alabama’s largest hospital announced that they will not be doing any more IVF procedures, after the state’s supreme court earlier this week ruled that frozen embryos are “extrauterine children.”
Why it matters: IVF procedures are intricately timed and extraordinarily costly. This will be a massive, likely heart-breaking disruption for families trying to have children in Alabama. And the philosophy that undergirds the state court’s ruling could easily be adopted in other conservative states.
Source: NPR
Could the Rete Ovarii Hold Fertility Clues?
What: A Duke University researcher says a microscopic and once-considered-useless appendage of the female reproductive system could be a key part of “regulating the timing or rate of ovulation.” The rete ovarii is a part of the ovary that can barely been seen by the naked eye.
Why it matters: Timing is (almost) everything in fertility.
Source: New Scientist
ABORTION ACCESS
Policy Brief: Why Women Get Late Term Abortions
What: Kaiser Family Foundation has a new policy brief outlining why late term abortions occur, especially after Roe vs. Wade fell in 2022. They write that the reason people get these abortions “include medical concerns such as fetal anomalies or maternal life endangerment, as well as barriers to care that cause delays in obtaining an abortion.”
Why it matters: Republicans like to claim that women get abortions “moments before birth” or “after birth”. This brief explains those claims are not only false, but that these later cases are often centered on protecting the health of the woman carrying the pregnancy.
Source: KFF
Idaho Is Rapidly Losing OBGYNs
What: Nearly a quarter of OBGYNs in Idaho have left the state since Roe vs. Wade was overturned, going from 268 providers to 210, according to a report from a physician group in the state.
Why it matters: Idaho has one of the most extreme abortion bans in the country. Losing physicians means women in the state will suffer worse care.
Source: Boise State Public Radio
ONCOLOGY
Cancer Support Group Embracing Natural Beauty Products
What: A profile of Tiah Tomlin-Harris, who was diagnosed with triple-negative breast cancer at age 38. Tomlin-Harris, who has a master’s in chemistry, started an online support group for Black women in Atlanta on their cancer journeys. Eventually, she turned it into a nonprofit, and focused on educating women about the toxic chemicals in hair relaxers and skin lighteners.
Why it matters: Black women are disproportionately affected by cancer, they are 41% more likely to die from breast cancer than white women.
Source: NBC
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