|
FERTILITY
The Real (Complex) Reason Why Fertility Rates Drop In Developed Countries
What: An excellent essay from Jill Filipovic that gets at the real reasons why the fertility rate is dropping in America: “…childbearing decisions have been flattened down into partisan talking points. From the right: that women have become too selfish, too career-obsessed, and too unconcerned with the future of the nation to have as many babies as they should…The message from the left is more materialist: families don’t have enough support; young people are too broke; the direness of our collective climate future has made millennials hesitant to bring new life into a dying world…Both sides are on to something. But neither gets it totally right.”
Why it matters: Filipovic argues that what’s really happening is women are finally getting the chance that men had for generations to choose what is most meaningful for them, in their individual life circumstances. That doesn’t mean that policy doesn’t matter, writes Filipovic, but what they “seem better suited for is increasing gender equality, giving women more opportunities, easing strain on workers, increasing economic output, and narrowing various inequalities between wealthier families and poorer ones. These are all important goals—more important, in my view, than raising birth rates.”
Source: Slate
ABORTION ACCESS
Health Care Providers Prepare for Trump 2.0
What: The 19th talks to abortion providers about what they are doing to prepare for a potential Trump presidency and an environment where he uses executive actions (i.e. goes around Congress) to ban medication abortion nationwide. And those efforts “to bar telehealth [prescriptions to abortion pills] would probably face legal challenges. But in the short-term, [University of Pittsburgh professor and expert Greer] Donley said, the risks of continuing to provide care — and relying on the protection of shield laws — would likely be too great. ‘Given the risks, if I was advising someone, I would say if there’s a Trump administration and a pronouncement they’re going to enforce Comstock, the physicians need to stop shipping pills,’ she said.”
Why it matters: “Telehealth abortion has become far more common in the past few years, thanks to data accumulated since the COVID-19 pandemic showing the safety and efficacy of providing abortion pills through virtual care. Its use has skyrocketed since Roe v. Wade’s overturn because of “shield laws,” which have passed in a handful of states with liberal governments. The laws guard health care providers who prescribe and send abortion pills to patients in states where the procedure is banned, though this protection applies only as long as providers don’t leave the state with the shield.”
Source: The 19th
MENOPAUSE
Study Finds Link Between Bipolar and Perimenopause
What: An analysis of nearly 130,000 women in the UK found that “women are more than twice as likely to develop bipolar disorder in the years leading up to their final period.”
Why it matters: “Bipolar UK ambassador Clare Dolman, who is also patient and public involvement lead on the project, said: ‘This confirms what we have observed and heard from women with bipolar themselves, that hormonal change is a very important factor in mood disorders and one that deserves to be researched thoroughly.’ The study, she believed, would help predict women’s risk of getting ill.”
Source: BBC
Halle Berry Keeps Up Her Menopause Crusade
What: Halle Berry continued her menopause awareness crusade on Good Morning America, joining “nearly two dozen other women in a conversation” on the topic during the show. As Berry put it: “It’s a normal stage of life. It’s what we’re going through. It’s not a disease. Don’t make it a negative…Let’s talk about it, and let’s figure out what we can do.”
Why it matters: “’I was 54 years old, 54, and no doctor that I had dared to talk to me about it. It was as if this would never happen to me,’ Berry said, adding that she believes her doctor, like others, was not fully educated on menopause. ‘That’s what got me so riled up,’ Berry said. ‘I thought, wow … I have one of the best doctors in all of California, and he didn’t really understand what this was. That made me realize that there must be millions of women that don’t understand this.’”
Source: Good Morning America
ONCOLOGY
DIY Pap Smears are Coming to America
What: Notch another win for considering women’s pain and dislike of a procedure! The New York Times reports that “a handful of health care companies are preparing to introduce a new model for cervical cancer screening and prevention that would circumvent the speculum: self-collection, in which a woman swabs her vagina in the doctor’s office, using only a narrow swab that looks similar to the one used during a Covid test.”
Why it matters: “Two decades of research suggest this method is as effective at preventing cervical cancer as traditional Pap tests for women 25 and older. … Experts hope the tests — which will be covered by public and private insurance, and free at many federally funded clinics for women who are uninsured — will help reach the 30 percent of eligible women in the United States who do not get screened regularly, including those who avoid Pap smears due to discomfort. This screening gap results in thousands of preventable deaths from cervical cancer every year.”
Source: New York Times
|