|
MENSTRUATION
Senator Forgets Women Have Periods Even After Hurricanes
What: Louisiana GOP Sen. John Kennedy isn’t known for his intelligent commentary, but he really belied how little he thinks of half the population in recent comments about menstrual products in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene. In an effort to criticize VP Kamala Harris for daring to do an interview for an audience of millions that touched on topics like menstruation and abortion, Kennedy said victims of Hurricane Helne “don’t give a function about tampons.”
Why it matters: “Well, they also need menstrual hygiene products. And lack of access to them is, in fact, a significant and dangerous problem for people with periods living in the wake of natural disasters, research shows – one that ‘can increase the risk of toxic shock syndrome, infections and other health conditions that can endanger … lives.’ A legislator should know this.”
Source: The Story Exchange
ABORTION ACCESS
Voting for Trump and Regretting It
What: A searing essay from Leslie Rangel on her sister, who voted for Trump in 2016 and has since changed her mind, especially after experiencing two terrifying miscarriages in Texas.
Why it matters: “Six years later — after Trump appointed three Supreme Court justices who each voted to overturn Roe v. Wade — my sister sat hemorrhaging for hours in the emergency waiting room in the conservative small town of Waxahachie. ‘I remember just being in there and seeing these ambulances,’ Victoria said. …She was nearly nine weeks pregnant. The life that was supposed to be growing inside her felt like it was flowing out in streams of blood. It was filling the thick pads she was wearing, and she feared any moment it would seep onto the glossy plastic blue chairs at Baylor Scott & White Medical Center.”
Source: The Barbed Wire
Legal Framework from the 1700s Supporting Anti-Abortion Laws
What: A lawyer from the team that fought Ohio’s abortion ban explains “coverture,” the legal concept no one is talking about—but it happens to be foundational to many anti-abortion laws.
Why it matters: “Coverture is an arcane but newly relevant legal idea that goes all the way back to the 1700s: the notion that a woman’s legal identity vanishes whenever it finds itself in close proximity to something deemed to be a superior interest. In the 1700s, that interest was the husband. Today, it’s the fetus. … When the state recognizes the legal interest of the fetus but not that of the pregnant person, it is subsuming the identity of the pregnant person into that of her fetus. From a legal standpoint, when a person becomes pregnant, she simply stops existing. The only thing that exists is her fetus.”
Source: The New Republic
MENOPAUSE
Where Menopause Stands in DC (For Now)
What: Politico has a deep dive on where menopause policy efforts stand in Washington, DC, including legislation to dedicate $275 million to federal research and training for health care providers on menopause, and “My Menoplan, an NIH-funded site that helps women in menopause explore treatment options based on their symptoms.”
Why it matters: “’Women start to change and have these symptoms and are really worried. And since we are never told that these are common symptoms … it pushes the panic button for many women. And that impacts us in every aspect of our lives,’ [National Menopause Foundation founder Clare] Gill says. Before the age of 40, a majority of women have little to no knowledge of menopause, and 80 percent of women weren’t educated about it at school. LaCroix and Gill both say that menopause education should be included in schools at an early age in addition to conversations about puberty.”
Source: Politico
ENDOMETRIOSIS
Stool Sample Could Help Diagnose Endometriosis
What: New Scientist has the details on promising research from Baylor College of Medicine that found a stool sample analysis could help diagnose endometriosis. Their test identified that “women with endometriosis had lower levels of the metabolite 4-hydroxyindole in their faeces, possibly due to alterations in the gut microbiome.”
Why it matters: “Affecting nearly 200 million people worldwide, endometriosis occurs when the tissue lining the uterus grows in other parts of the reproductive tract. There is no known cure, but lesions can be periodically removed through surgical procedures once the condition has been diagnosed. However, due in large part to a lack of awareness and understanding, it currently takes an average of more than six years for endometriosis to be diagnosed.”
Source: New Scientist
|