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

  • A Florida poll has a whopping 69% of voters backing access to abortion. With only 42% supporting VP Kamala Harris, that means lots of Republicans are saying they’ll vote for abortion access. 
     
  • Jessica Valenti digs into Trump’s Project 2025 and finds that it is basically Keep American Women at Home, Again. In policy form.
     
  • We have the first women’s health company to reach a value of over $1 billion. And they’re moving into menopause

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Everything
Birth Control
Abortion Access
Menopause

TOP STORIES TODAY: the most important reads we’ve found, and why they matter.

EVERYTHING

Trump’s Project 2025: Keep American Women at Home Again

What: Jesica Valenti breaks down Trump’s Project 2025 and its specific plans to not just ban abortion, but act as a “step-by-step plan on how the government can force American women out of public life and back into the home.”

Why it matters: “Project 2025 calls for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to become the “Department for Life.” Under this new name, the government would track women’s pregnancies, including abortions, miscarriages and stillbirths; dismantle sex education; replace birth control programs with “fertility awareness” and marriage promotion programs; allow employers to refuse birth control coverage; allow healthcare providers and pharmacists to refuse to dispense medication they morally oppose; and divert child care funding into programs that push women to stay at home.”

Source: AED

BIRTH CONTROL

Birth Control Can’t Be Forgotten

What: Brookings economist Isabel Sawhill has an op-ed chock full of data points on why birth control should be front and center for anyone who cares about women’s health.

Why it matters: As Sawhill reminds us: “Unplanned pregnancy is more common than most people realize. According to the latest data from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), 42% of all pregnancies are unintended, meaning that the pregnancy was either unwanted or seriously mistimed.” So what to do about it? “One rigorous study has shown that eliminating cost sharing for low-income patients seeking birth control would significantly reduce unintended pregnancies and abortions and save more than one billion dollars in Medicaid expenses in the first year alone.”

Source: Brookings

ABORTION ACCESS

The Women of Silicon Valley Have Had Enough

What: The Washington Post digs into male Silicon Valley investors who have decided to back Donald Trump’s attempt to return to the White House—and lost the respect of many women colleagues and friends in the process.

Why it matters: “Merci Grace, a former partner at investment firm Lightspeed Venture Partners, was devastated to see two friends working in venture capital publicly endorse Trump, motivated in part by his campaign’s business-friendly approach to tech. Grace, who tried unsuccessfully to have children for many years, had emergency surgery in 2022 to remove a life-threatening ectopic pregnancy. A national abortion ban, a policy previously backed by Trump’s running mate, JD Vance, could make the vital medical care difficult to obtain. ‘I actually cried that day,’ Grace said. ‘It felt like they were willing to trade my actual life for money.’”

Source: Washington Post

Florida Abortion Amendment Gets Lots of (Republican) Voter Support

What: A Florida poll shows a whopping 69% of voters in the state say they will support an amendment prohibiting abortion bans.

Why it matters: Only 42% of voters in the poll said they were backing VP Kamala Harris, while 49% said they’d back Trump. So there is a sizable chunk of Trump voters who are also against abortion bans. (Polling nationally has shown this for years, too.)

Source: The Hill

MENOPAUSE

A Women’s Health Company Is (Finally) Worth Over $1 Billion

What: Period tracking app Flo raised $200 million in investment and is the first purely women’s health company valued at over $1 billion.

Why it matters: The company will spend the funding to “expand into new user segments, including people in perimenopause and menopause.” In other words, there is money to be made in providing products for a long-ignored population.

Source: Axios