November 12, 2026

Tonight: who shapes the list of women’s health services insurers must cover at no cost, rising testosterone use, and more.

— Meghan McCarthy

WHO GETS TO DECIDE WHAT’S FREE?

HHS is seeking an organization to recommend updates to the preventive services most private insurance plans must cover for women at no cost. Those guidelines help secure no-copay coverage for birth control, mammograms, breast pumps, and annual well-woman visits. An ACOG-led coalition has reviewed the evidence since 2016, but its federal grant ended in February. The relaunched program, now called WISH, will award one organization up to $1 million in its first year. HRSA approves the coverage recommendations. About 58 million women had private coverage that included no-cost preventive services in 2022, HHS estimates. Applications close Jan. 8.

TESTOSTERONE PRESCRIPTIONS RISE, MONITORING LAGS

New testosterone prescriptions for women grew about 22% a year from 2022 to 2024, according to a study of around 10,000 women in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism. Only 17% had a documented diagnosis of hypoactive sexual desire disorder. Treating that condition in postmenopausal women is the only use backed by evidence so far. Just 16% of women in the study had a testosterone test documented before starting. The authors point to consumer-directed marketing for “a wide range of unsupported indications.” Among women who continued treatment, a substantial share stayed on it beyond two years.

MAVEN MOVES MIDLIFE CARE IN-NETWORK

Maven Clinic is bringing its direct-to-consumer hormone care in-network with more than 475 commercial health plans, Fierce Healthcare reports. Those plans represent about 80% of commercially insured people, the company says. Visits through its GLP-1 program go in-network Jan. 1; that doesn’t guarantee coverage for the medications. Patients can use their insurance whether or not their employer offers Maven, though coverage and out-of-pocket costs vary by plan. Subscribers typically fall between ages 38 and 50, which Maven sees as evidence of a care gap after the parenthood years.

WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU STOP

Women with depression who continued antidepressants during pregnancy had a lower risk of postpartum depression than those who stopped, according to an observational study of around 6,600 patients. Kaiser Permanente researchers found the highest risk among women who had depressive symptoms early in pregnancy and stopped treatment, at nearly three times that of women who continued medication and had few or no symptoms. The findings, published in the American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology, suggest antidepressants may help prevent postpartum depression in patients with past depressive disorders. Symptoms during pregnancy can help patients and clinicians weigh treatment decisions.

IS CLOSER MONITORING WHAT IT TAKES?

Black mothers in a UK cohort had more than twice the stillbirth rate of white mothers: 5.7 vs. 2.5 per 1,000 births. The Lancet Obstetrics, Gynaecology & Women’s Health analysis examined around 179,000 pregnancies, and Black mothers’ higher odds for stillbirth persisted after researchers accounted for maternal characteristics and late-pregnancy scans. But when clinicians suspected a baby was small—a finding that prompts closer monitoring—researchers found no statistically significant difference by ethnicity. The gap appeared among pregnancies without suspected small fetal size, raising the question of whether closer monitoring could help.

November 10, 2026

Tonight: how Democratic wins could upend major abortion lawsuits, the potential risk getting lost in the hormone therapy boom, and a promising blood test for ovarian cancer before it starts.

— Meghan McCarthy

THE ABORTION LAWSUITS MAY LOSE THEIR PLAINTIFFS

Democrats won attorney general races in Georgia, Iowa, Ohio, Kansas, and Texas, and the results could reshape some of the country's biggest abortion cases, Reuters reports. Texas could withdraw from a lawsuit challenging the FDA's approval of mifepristone, leaving Florida as the only plaintiff. Kansas could pull out of a separate challenge to expanded access to the pill. Texas Attorney General-elect Nathan Johnson could also decline to defend the state's near-total abortion ban in a lawsuit brought by the family of Tierra Walker, who died after doctors refused to perform an abortion. “Everything will be examined,” Johnson said. Meanwhile, Texas Gov.-elect Gina Hinojosa has made Medicaid expansion a top priority. It could cover more than 1 million additional Texans, but she'll need the cooperation of a Republican-controlled state Senate.

THE HORMONE PENDULUM, SWINGING TOO FAR?

As more women turn to hormone therapy for menopause symptoms, some doctors worry the breast cancer risks are getting lost in the enthusiasm, The New York Times reports. In the landmark Women's Health Initiative study, women taking a combined estrogen-progestin pill developed about four breast cancers per 1,000 women annually, compared with three among women taking a placebo. The study did not find a statistically significant increase in breast cancer deaths. Newer treatments, including estrogen patches paired with a different form of progesterone, may carry less risk, but long-term evidence is limited. “Honestly, we don't know,” said Dr. Stephanie Faubion of The Menopause Society. Even after doubling over five years, hormone therapy use remains below 4% of women.

190 MILLION WOMEN, LESS THAN 0.1% OF THE BUDGET

The Economist has a deep dive rounding up evidence and progress (or lack thereof) on endometriosis. An estimated 190 million women worldwide have the condition, yet diagnosis can take nearly nine years. Researchers are developing alternatives to surgery, including a Pap-smear-style test using menstrual fluid and a dye that makes endometriosis lesions visible during imaging. A genetic study involving 1.4 million women also found links between endometriosis and chronic fatigue, a symptom often dismissed by doctors. But research funding remains scarce: NIH spends less than 0.1% of its budget on endometriosis, while Crohn's disease receives roughly 15 times more funding per patient. A federal program launched in 2024 to support women's health research, including endometriosis, was cut this year.

FROM PROPERTY TO PEOPLE

At least 24 states have adopted some form of fetal personhood language in their laws, creating new uncertainty for IVF patients and doctors, KFF Health News reports. One couple destroyed nine frozen embryos rather than risk transporting them across state lines. A Georgia fertility doctor sometimes ends egg stimulation a day or two early, reducing the number of mature eggs by 30% to limit potential legal risks. Alabama is the only state offering IVF providers broad protection from both civil and criminal liability. “We have gone from ‘Embryos are property’ to ‘Embryos are people,’” said a University of Alabama law professor.

A BLOOD TEST FOR OVARIAN CANCER BEFORE IT STARTS?

Researchers have identified a blood marker that could detect precancerous lesions in the fallopian tubes, where the deadliest form of ovarian cancer often begins. In a Nature Medicine study involving 506 people, the test detected the microscopic lesions in 92% of women who had them and correctly identified 98% of healthy women in a separate validation group. These lesions are usually discovered by chance during surgery. The researchers tested previously collected blood samples, so it's not yet clear how well the test would work in routine care. In a modeled high-risk population, about 72% of positive results would be accurate. Larger studies following women over time are needed before the test could be used clinically.

November 5, 2026

Tonight: what the midterms mean for women’s health, what your hormone history may say about your brain at 70, and more.

— Meghan McCarthy

ABORTION ACCESS? ALSO WENT (MOSTLY) BLUE

The midterm elections delivered a generational rebuke to Republicans and the Trump administration, and with it came several successful efforts to maintain abortion access on the state level. In Missouri, voters rejected an amendment that would have revived the abortion ban they already overturned in 2024 and added a constitutional ban on gender-affirming care for minors. Nevada and Virginia voters added abortion rights to their state constitutions, with about 63% and 62% support. Idaho was the exception: voters rejected a measure to restore abortion access, 56% to 44%. Organizers blamed a disinformation campaign fueled by more than $1.3 million from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and the Catholic Diocese of Boise. In Texas, where Democrats swept statewide offices, Attorney General-elect Nathan Johnson told The Texas Tribune he won’t sue out-of-state doctors who mail abortion pills to Texans. The state’s ban remains.

AND FOR MORE HEALTH ON THE AGENDA...

Democrats won both chambers of Congress on Tuesday. A working group under Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, the likely next speaker, proposed repealing the Medicaid coverage and funding cuts in 2025’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act among its “First 100 Hours” goals, Fierce Healthcare reports. The September agenda also calls for restoring withheld NIH funding and protecting no-cost vaccine coverage despite changes in federal recommendations. One TD Cowen analyst warned that even “medium-sized policies,” like rolling back some Medicaid cuts or restoring ACA subsidies, “are an uphill battle.” But with large majorities, more is possible despite Trump’s veto pen.

WHAT YOUR HORMONE HISTORY COULD SAY ABOUT YOUR BRAIN

Women with more years between their first period and menopause showed less damage to the brain’s tiny blood vessels at 70, according to a study of 352 cognitively healthy Swedish women in Neurology, The Washington Post reports. That damage is associated with stroke, cognitive impairment, and dementia. Women who had used menopausal hormone therapy also showed less damage. Those who had used both the pill and hormone therapy showed the most favorable signs of vascular brain health. The study shows associations, not cause and effect. Neither ACOG nor the American College of Physicians recommends hormone therapy to protect the brain.

SERIOUS BIRTH COMPLICATIONS: UP 40%

Severe childbirth complications rose about 40% between 2015 and 2022, from 175 to 246 per 10,000 deliveries, according to a JAMA Network Open study representing about 27.3 million U.S. delivery hospitalizations. Sixteen of the 21 complications researchers tracked increased significantly. Within every racial and ethnic group, patients with Medicaid had higher odds of complications than those with private insurance. Among Native American patients, the gap reached 44%. The study can’t show that insurance caused those differences. The authors point to structural inequities and call for policy reform.

THE END OF THE PREGNANCY BUNDLE

New obstetric billing codes taking effect January 1 will split clinicians’ maternity care into prenatal, labor, delivery, and postpartum services. CMS included the American Medical Association’s codes in its final 2027 Medicare fee schedule, ACOG said Thursday. The agency dropped alternative codes it proposed over the summer after pushback from ob-gyns. ACOG says the change will give patients “a clear view of which prenatal and postpartum visits are exempt from copays” and give researchers better data on care quality. The transition also affects pregnancies that began in 2026, with rules varying by insurer.

November 3, 2026

Welcome to a special early edition, thanks to the midterm elections. We'll be back Thursday with analysis on what the results mean for women’s health.

And for tonight: the rules protecting pregnant workers, a sharp drop in newborn deaths in Flint, and more.

— Meghan McCarthy

LESS FAIRNESS FOR PREGNANT WORKERS?

The Trump administration is preparing to narrow workplace protections under the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act, The New York Times reports. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission plans to revisit how it defines "pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions." Current regulations cover miscarriage, postpartum depression, lactation, abortion, fertility treatment, endometriosis, and menstruation. They can require employers to give workers time off for an abortion, including travel. The administration is also reportedly considering broader religious exemptions that could allow employers to deny some reproductive health accommodations. A proposed rule is expected this month, with public comments expected to close in January.

OVER-THE-COUNTER ESTROGEN?

The FDA has approved removing what it calls outdated warnings about heart disease, breast cancer, and dementia from three more estradiol patches. Six hormone therapy products got the same change in February. The agency is also working with companies to explore selling vaginal estrogen over the counter, a move that would require FDA approval and evidence that women can use it safely without a prescription. The FDA says patch production has doubled over the past year and it is "not aware of an imminent risk of a nationwide shortage." But the agency again made its warning-label decision without convening an advisory committee, The Guardian reports. Asked for the evidence behind the change, officials said they could provide it later.

NEWBORN DEATHS PLUNGE IN FLINT AFTER CASH PAYMENTS

Newborns in Flint, Michigan, have historically died at about twice the rate of those in the rest of the state. In 2024, the city launched Rx Kids, a program that gives expectant mothers $1,500 during pregnancy and $500 a month through their baby's first year. A year later, deaths in the first week of life had fallen 74%, and deaths in the first month had fallen 50%, compared with 2021–2024, according to a JAMA Pediatrics research letter. Flint's newborn death rates were no longer statistically different from those in the rest of Michigan. The numbers are small: just two first-week deaths among 980 births in 2025, and that year's data are still provisional. Researchers caution that the findings are preliminary and don't prove the payments caused the decline but say direct cash support may help improve newborn survival.

CERVICAL CANCER RATES MAY FALL, BUT DEATHS WILL RISE

Cervical cancer rates may decline worldwide by 2050, but the number of women diagnosed is projected to rise 20%, and deaths 39%, according to a Nature Medicine study. In 2023, an estimated 887,000 women developed cervical cancer, and 369,000 died from it. The disease was more than four times as common in low-income countries as in high-income ones, and death rates were more than seven times higher. Researchers attributed the entire burden of cervical cancer to HPV infection. The projected decline in age-adjusted rates remains uncertain, even as the total number of cases and deaths is expected to grow. The increase reflects a growing and aging population, while gaps in HPV vaccination, screening, and treatment continue to leave women in poorer countries at much greater risk.

ILLEGAL IN THE U.S., MARKETED TO AMERICANS

A technique developed to prevent mothers from passing on rare, sometimes fatal mitochondrial diseases is being sold as a fertility treatment for older women, despite little evidence it works, a STAT investigation found. So-called "three-parent IVF" is illegal in the U.S., and professional medical groups recommend against using it to treat infertility. An Illinois-based company connects American and European patients with clinics abroad, including one in Albania that greets patients with a sign declaring itself an "FDA registered facility." STAT found poor record-keeping, incomplete research published in marginal journals, and questions about whether patients received the procedure they were promised. In one case, a child's ancestry test raised doubts about where the child's DNA came from.

Tonight: the words researchers say they can’t use in grants, a ballot question that’s really two, and more.

— Meghan McCarthy

A WOMEN’S HEALTH DIVISION, CAREFULLY WORDED

Trump has called for a new women’s health division at NIH. But the 19th reports researchers are skeptical of his efforts, especially because his administration is already restricting how they describe women’s health research. Johns Hopkins demographer Suzanne Bell is studying the health effects of abortion bans. Bell says an NIH official warned that renewing her grant would likely require removing any mention of abortion or Dobbs, the Supreme Court decision that overturned Roe v. Wade. She removed the language, and the grant was renewed. Bell is among the researchers behind a class-action lawsuit filed in September accusing NIH of using 235 keywords, including “gender” and “pregnant individual,” to flag research the administration opposed. Federal officials have argued in court filings that the lawsuit lacks merit. The new executive order, meanwhile, specifies no funding or measurable research targets.

MISSOURI’S TWO-FOR-ONE TRICK BALLOT QUESTION

Four states vote on abortion Tuesday. Two years after Missouri voters struck down one of the country’s strictest bans, the Republican-led legislature put the question back on the ballot. This time it’s a single measure that pairs a near-total abortion ban with a ban on gender-affirming medical care for minors. NPR reports that much of the advertising for it mentions only the gender-affirming care ban. In Idaho, a vote could overturn the state’s near-total abortion ban. Nevada and Virginia, where abortion is legal, will decide whether to write those rights into their state constitutions.

THE ESTROGEN SHORTAGE SPREADS

Patches were just the start. Some estradiol injections are now in shortage, and several vaginal estrogen creams are backordered or available only in limited quantities, Reuters reports. CVS said supplies of certain injections have gotten worse in recent weeks. Midi Health’s chief medical officer described a “domino effect” as patients who can’t find patches switch to gels and creams. Demand rose after the FDA removed the boxed warning on some hormone therapy last year. Manufacturer Viatris has put its Vermont plant on around-the-clock production and plans a new production line. The FDA didn’t respond to Reuters’ request for comment.

DADS ARE TAKING THE LEAVE

Men filed 51% of California’s paid leave claims in 2025. KFF Health News reports that this is the first time men have outnumbered women in the program’s history. When it started in 2004, men made up about 18% of claims. Men have also overtaken women in Colorado and Washington. California raised its benefit in 2025, and paid leave can now cover as much as 90% of a worker’s pay. One advocate cautions that the data can’t show whether more dads became eligible or fewer moms took leave.

3D MAMMOGRAMS: CATCHING CANCER EARLIER?

A German trial of nearly 100,000 women ages 50 to 70 tested whether 3D mammograms could catch cancers that standard mammograms miss. Among women whose screening showed no cancer, about 14 per 10,000 in the 3D group were diagnosed with invasive breast cancer over the next two years, compared with about 19 per 10,000 in the standard group. That suggests 3D scans may have caught more cancers earlier, leaving fewer to be discovered between screenings. Those cancers tend to be more aggressive than cancers found during screening. The two-year difference—roughly a quarter fewer cases—wasn’t statistically significant, meaning researchers couldn’t rule out chance, though the first-year difference was significant. Pandemic disruptions left the trial about 20,000 women short of its recruitment goal, which may have made a real benefit harder to detect.

October 27, 2026

Tonight: what your periods and pregnancies say about your heart, why surgery on women pays less, and more.

— Meghan McCarthy

YOUR HEART HAS FOUR LIFE STAGES

For the first time, the American Heart Association, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine have issued joint guidance on women’s heart health. It’s built around four “female life stages”: the transition around a girl’s first period, the reproductive years, perimenopause, and postmenopause. The framework treats heavy or irregular periods and pregnancy complications like preeclampsia and gestational diabetes as early warning signs of heart risk. It calls perimenopause a cardiovascular “inflection point.” Cardiovascular disease, including heart disease and stroke, kills more than 400,000 U.S. women a year, yet only about 4 in 10 women recognize it as their greatest health threat, according to the AHA. And only about 60% of women with high blood pressure complications during pregnancy get follow-up care for their blood pressure within six months of delivery. The groups are calling for a national network of centers of excellence for women’s heart care.

SINCE DOBBS, MORE THAN 900 PREGNANCY PROSECUTIONS

In the first three years after the Supreme Court overturned Roe, prosecutors brought at least 902 cases charging women with crimes related to their pregnancies, pregnancy losses or births, according to Pregnancy Justice, a nonprofit that supports abortion rights. Most of the 955 charges alleged some form of child abuse, neglect or endangerment, largely tied to substance use. In 77 cases, not getting prenatal care was cited as evidence of a crime, and 13 included allegations about obtaining, attempting or researching an abortion. South Carolina, Oklahoma and Alabama accounted for most of the cases. In the past two years, lawmakers in about a dozen states have introduced bills to penalize women for having abortions, Stateline reports. “These instances are times when women need healthcare, not handcuffs,” said Madalyn Wasilczuk, a University of South Carolina law professor and a co-author of the study.

MEDICARE’S PAY GAP STARTS WITH THE PATIENT’S GENDER

Medicare pays surgeons less for many procedures on women than for comparable procedures on men, Vox reports. In a study of 55 pairs of sex-specific procedures, the female procedure received a lower value for the surgeon’s work in 75% of pairs. Male procedures were valued about 30% higher on average. In 2023, Medicare’s standard rate for a penile biopsy was $121. A vaginal biopsy paid about $66. Researchers found no statistically significant narrowing of the pay gap between 2003 and 2023. An American Medical Association committee recommends the values, drawing on doctors’ estimates of the time and work involved. Medicare has the final say. Experts interviewed by Vox say lower payments lead hospitals to give gynecologic surgery fewer resources, limiting operating room access and training opportunities. “I have patients who are waiting for surgery with me for a year at a time,” said Louise King, a gynecologic surgeon and Harvard bioethicist.

MENOPAUSE CARE, IF YOU HAVE THE RIGHT INSURANCE

Callers posing as patients with Medicaid were offered appointments with Menopause Society–certified practitioners far less often than callers with private insurance, according to Medscape’s report on a secret shopper study presented at the society’s annual meeting. Researchers contacted 216 practitioners’ offices listed in the society’s directory. Private insurance callers were offered an appointment 59% of the time, compared with 38% of Medicaid callers. Forty percent of the offices couldn’t be reached despite three to six attempts. Among practices that did offer an appointment, the median wait was 40 days. Medicaid “often comes with lower reimbursement,” said Penn Medicine OB-GYN Holly Cummings, who wasn’t involved in the study. “Providers are earning less money for the same care provided.”

THE OB-GYNS’ FIRST WORD ON GLP-1s AND PREGNANCY

The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists has released long-awaited guidance on GLP-1 weight-loss drugs before, during and after pregnancy. It recommends patients consider stopping the drugs one to two months before trying to conceive, because most take days or weeks to clear the body, and avoid them throughout pregnancy. Human data so far haven’t shown a consistent increase in birth defects, but safety data remain limited. For breastfeeding, ACOG calls for shared decision-making. Early studies of injectable drugs suggest little or no medication reaches breast milk, but ACOG recommends against use while nursing preterm babies or infants in their first 28 days. It also advises against oral GLP-1s while breastfeeding and calls for close monitoring of infant weight gain if treatment is used. As many as 1 in 300 women are exposed to GLP-1s before pregnancy, said lead author Yvette LaCoursiere, and the drugs are “now widely accessible through online providers and medical spas.”

October 22, 2026

Tonight: menopause symptoms without prescriptions, a familiar pill’s other job in the delivery room, and the years women spend caring for everyone else.

— Meghan McCarthy

HALF HAVE SYMPTOMS. 1 IN 6 TAKES A PRESCRIPTION.

Nearly half of U.S. women ages 40 to 60, about 16.7 million, reported menopause symptoms in the preceding year, according to 2025 federal survey data the CDC released Tuesday. Symptoms were most common at ages 52 to 55, when two-thirds reported them. But only 15.6% of women with symptoms were currently taking a prescription medication for them. Among symptomatic women ages 44 to 47, fewer than 1 in 10 were. The analysis excluded women who were pregnant, postpartum, or in surgical menopause. Both the American College of Physicians and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists issued guidelines this month recommending hormone therapy for hot flashes and night sweats.

THE FDA STILL HASN’T DECLARED A PATCH SHORTAGE

Three senators want the FDA’s plan for fixing estrogen patch supply problems that have persisted over the past year. In a letter dated Tuesday, Democratic Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand, Tammy Duckworth, and Adam Schiff wrote that nearly 20 patch formulations have been affected, leaving some women stretching doses, splitting patches, or stopping therapy altogether. The FDA hasn’t listed the patches in its official shortage database, though it says it is working with manufacturers and expediting reviews to increase supply. “Passive monitoring and generic advice fail to adequately mitigate a nationwide manufacturing deficit,” the senators wrote. They want answers by Nov. 16, including whether the agency anticipated the demand surge before announcing changes to hormone therapy’s boxed warnings last November.

MIFEPRISTONE’S OTHER JOB

Mifepristone, best known for its role in medication abortion, could also help more women deliver without a C-section. A review in Obstetrics & Gynecology examined 15 randomized trials involving around 1,900 women undergoing labor induction at 37 weeks or later. Women given mifepristone had about one-third lower odds of a C-section: 33% delivered by C-section, compared with 42% in the comparison groups, which included placebo. Inductions were also shorter and required less additional medication. In the minority of trials that reported these safety outcomes, researchers found no differences in postpartum hemorrhage, neonatal intensive care admissions, or low five-minute Apgar scores, a measure of newborn babies’ health shortly after birth.

PAID LEAVE, ONE COUNTY AT A TIME

Allegheny County, home to Pittsburgh, passed a law requiring certain employers give employees 12 weeks of paid parental leave. County Executive Sara Innamorato signed it into law Thursday after the council approved it Tuesday night. The policy covers eligible birthing and non-birthing parents at employers with 15 or more employees, including after a stillbirth. Employers will pay the benefits and have roughly a year to implement the changes. Nurses at UPMC Magee-Womens Hospital helped lead the push after seeing parents return to work while their babies were still in intensive care, The 19th reports. The U.S. still has no nationwide guarantee of paid parental leave.

WOMEN’S CAREGIVING YEARS GOT LONGER. MEN’S DIDN’T.

American women can expect to spend about seven years of their adult lives caring for an older relative or friend, a University of Michigan study estimates. That’s up from about six years in 2011. Men’s time spent caring for elders held steady at about four years. The projections assume caregiving rates measured in 2023 continue. Women and men were expected to spend similar amounts of time caring for a spouse or partner. But women faced more years caring for parents, grandparents, and others, and more years providing every category of help studied: personal care, household tasks, transportation, and medical care. The researchers say the gap may widen as older adults need more care and more age without close family.

October 20, 2026

Tonight: a new women’s health division at NIH but without money (yet), what happens when the OB-GYNs leave, and more.

— Meghan McCarthy

NEW DIVISION, NO MONEY

Trump signed an executive order Monday directing NIH to create a women’s health division, though he “did not appear to be aware” that the agency already has a women’s health research office, Washington Post reports. The new division won’t replace that office. No new funding was announced, despite NIH seeing significant cuts under this administration. And as STAT notes, grants with the word “women” in them triggered special reviews. The Biden administration launched a White House women’s health research initiative in 2023, this order explicitly revokes it. Women’s health groups, including the national OB-GYN society, welcomed the announcement, but added that “robust and sustained funding is necessary.”

THE OB-GYNS UPDATE THEIR MENOPAUSE PLAYBOOK

The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists has updated its menopause guidance for the first time since 2014, strongly recommending hormone therapy for hot flashes and related sleep problems for women who don’t have a medical reason to avoid it. The group recommends starting before age 60 or within 10 years of menopause. For women who can’t or won’t take hormones, the group backs certain antidepressants and newer nonhormonal drugs Veozah and Lynkuet, and it doesn’t support soy or herbal supplements. The guidance lands 10 days after the American College of Physicians, which sets guidance for internists, recommended hormones as first-line treatment.

IDAHO BANNED ABORTION. MORE THAN A THIRD OF ITS OB-GYNS STOPPED DELIVERING BABIES.

More than a third of Idaho’s OB-GYNs have stopped practicing obstetrics, left the state, closed their practices or retired since its abortion ban took effect in 2022, The New York Times reports. Half of the state’s 44 counties have no practicing obstetrician. One Boise practice has interviewed 15 doctors since the ban, and only two took the job. In Moscow, a family doctor waited nearly an hour, her C-section patient’s abdomen still open, for the OB on call to come in from Washington. Another patient’s baby died in the second trimester, and her doctor couldn’t find mifepristone, even at pharmacies across the border. The woman waited two days to deliver on misoprostol alone. “My job is to keep a woman safe,” said Boise OB-GYN Becky Uranga. “But right now, there’s a limit to how well I can do that.”

BIRTH CENTERS HANDLE MORE BIRTHS THAN TWO DECADES AGO. INSURANCE STILL LAGS.

Freestanding birth centers handled 0.6% of U.S. births in 2024, up from 0.2% in 2004, according to a Commonwealth Fund analysis. But deliveries have declined slightly since 2022, and the number of centers isn’t increasing. Among families who gave birth at one, 39% paid out of pocket, compared with 3% of hospital births. Medicaid covered 18% of birth center births, versus 41% of hospital births. Where Medicaid does pay, rates in a nine-state study ranged from about $1,300 per birth in New Jersey to about $6,000 in Massachusetts. Ten states have no birth centers at all. The authors blame low reimbursement, strict licensing rules, and a shortage of midwives with birth center experience.

TESTOSTERONE STUDY RAISES HEART-RISK QUESTIONS

Postmenopausal women who started testosterone were more likely to develop cardiovascular disease than similar women who didn’t, according to preliminary research to be presented at The Menopause Society’s annual meeting this week. Researchers compared health records for more than 6,300 women. Over an average of nearly three years, nearly 4% of women on testosterone developed at least one of the conditions tracked, including coronary artery disease, stroke and heart failure, compared with 0.5% of women who weren’t on testosterone. The findings come from a conference abstract, and the observational study shows an association, not that testosterone caused the problems. There is no FDA-approved testosterone product for women in the U.S. “Long-term safety data on testosterone use in women are lacking,” said Stephanie Faubion, the society’s medical director.

Here are the most interesting items we saw in women’s health this week:

🏥 52 MATERNITY WARDS DOWN, AND THE CUTS HAVEN'T FULLY HIT. Fifty-two maternity wards have already closed since Medicaid funding cuts were signed into law, with eight more announced — and the bill doesn't fully take effect until next year.

📈 MENOPAUSE IS A CLIFF, NOT A SLOPE. A million-woman analysis in Nature Medicine found that more than half of health markers shift abruptly around the final menstrual period — bone, liver, kidney, cholesterol — not gradually. Women on HRT showed smaller shifts.

⚖️ SHE'S SUING ANTI-ABORTION ACTIVISTS UNDER THEIR OWN PILL LAW. A Texas mother used the state's HB 7 to sue Students for Life leaders who allegedly ordered abortion medication on their phones outside Space Center Houston — and is seeking $459,782, the average cost of raising two children in Texas.

TOP CLICKED THIS WEEK

Population-Scale Reconstruction of Menopause Dynamics Reveals a Physiological Cliff at the Final Menstrual Period // Nature Medicine

Why Doctors Are Urging Women to Redo Early Genetic Tests for Cancer Risks // The Washington Post

US Maternity Wards Face Wave of Closures as Medicaid Cuts Kick In // The Guardian

Texas Woman Uses State Law to Sue Anti-Abortion Group That Allegedly Ordered Abortion Pills Online // Texas Tribune

Premenarche risk factors for future dysmenorrhoea: a prospective cohort study // The Lancet Child and Adolescent Health

Why the Ovary Still Matters Well Beyond Menopause // The Washington Post

October 15, 2026

Tonight: evidence that giving new moms Medicaid works, the ovary’s second act, and more.

— Meghan McCarthy

SHE’S SUING ANTI-ABORTION ACTIVISTS UNDER THEIR OWN PILL LAW

A Texas mother of two has sued Students for Life president Kristan Hawkins and three colleagues under HB 7, the Texas law that lets private citizens sue anyone who provides abortion pills to or from someone in the state. The suit says the four ordered abortion medication on their phones outside Space Center Houston in March. None of them was pregnant. The plaintiff, who goes by the pseudonym Maria Puerto, says both of her pregnancies were unplanned despite birth control, and that the state’s ban kept her from ending them. She’s seeking $459,782, the suit’s figure for the average cost of raising two children to 18 in Texas. The Texas Tribune notes the law doesn’t explicitly ban ordering the pills, only transporting them within the state. But it’s an interesting test of turning the law against the anti-abortion activists who wanted it.

MOST PEOPLE DON’T KNOW ALCOHOL CAUSES BREAST CANCER

Only 15% of people surveyed across 14 European countries knew that alcohol can cause breast cancer, according to the World Health Organization’s European office. Among women, it was 21%. WHO estimates alcohol caused about 39,200 new breast cancers across Europe in 2020. It calls drinking “often the least discussed” behavioral health risk, and is pointing health workers to a set of screening tools, including a 10-question drinking assessment to help them start the conversation. “We know screening and brief interventions work, but only if health professionals feel able to use them,” said Carina Ferreira-Borges, WHO/Europe’s regional advisor on alcohol.

A FULL YEAR OF MEDICAID, A LOT MORE FOLLOW-UP CARE

When pandemic rules kept new mothers on Medicaid for a full year, women who had diabetes or high blood pressure during pregnancy got more of the follow-up care that can catch problems after birth. That’s according to a study of Medicaid deliveries in New York and Texas. The biggest gains came in Texas, where coverage for new moms had been far less robust. Without the pandemic Medicaid coverage, about 41% of Texas mothers with pregnancy diabetes got a follow-up diabetes test within a year, and about two-thirds of mothers with either complication saw a doctor outpatient. When new moms were on Medicaid, testing rose about 12 percentage points and visits about 10 points. In New York, where nearly 9 in 10 already had a visit, the gains were smaller. The authors say the result “suggests that postpartum extension of Medicaid is an effective strategy.”

MORE EVIDENCE THE OVARY DOESN’T RETIRE AT MENOPAUSE

The Washington Post reports on a topic that has been accumulating evidence: that ovaries remain biologically active long after menopause. A small study from Northwestern and the Buck Institute analyzed healthy ovarian tissue from 28 women aged 50 to 75. Researchers measured nearly 6,000 proteins and found such distinct molecular signatures in women in their 50s versus their 70s that they could almost tell an ovary’s age from them. They also found molecules that may signal to other organs, along with molecular changes also seen in ovarian cancer, even though all the tissue studied was healthy. “Women are living three [more] decades with this organ in their body, and we have no idea what it’s doing,” said co-author Francesca Duncan.

PAINFUL PERIODS START EARLY

More than half of girls who started menstruating reported painful periods by age 12 or 13, according to a study that followed about 2,300 U.S. girls from before their first period. Nearly 1 in 5 of those with pain had severe pain. Girls who were further along in puberty at age 9 or 10 were more likely to develop period pain. So were girls from lower-income families, and Black and Hispanic girls. Anxiety, depression and attention problems before a girl’s first period didn’t predict pain. Poor sleep didn’t predict who would get pain, but it was linked to pain getting in the way of daily life. The researchers say signs present before a first period could help identify girls at risk “before pain becomes a lifelong issue.”