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

🧠 The brain fog is real, but for what reason? A study of around 14,000 women ages 45–55 found that perimenopausal women report significantly more symptoms like memory lapses than premenopausal women. But objective testing showed almost no measurable cognitive decline—mood, anxiety, and sleep are likely the stronger culprits.

⚖️ Two Florida women had court hearings while in active labor. ProPublica documented cases in which hospitals petitioned the state to override patients' decisions about their own deliveries *while those women were actively laboring*. Florida courts have ruled that pregnant patients can be forced into unwanted procedures (in this case, C-sections instead of vaginal birth), and legislation moving through the state could expand those powers further.

❤️ Early menopause is a heart disease warning sign. Women who stop menstruating before 40 have a 40% higher risk of coronary heart disease, according to a JAMA Cardiology study. Black women are three times more likely to experience premature menopause, a racial health disparity that translates directly into higher lifetime cardiac risk.

TOP CLICKED STORIES THIS WEEK

• Cognition and the menopause transition: cross-sectional evidence from a large community cohort — npj Women's Health
  
  

• Florida Courts Ordered Them to Have C-Sections — ProPublica
  
  

• Since Dobbs — New York Review of Books
  
  

• I had no idea: the hidden mental health struggles many women face during menopause — Euronews
  
  

• Premature menopause tied to 40% greater risk of heart attacks — STAT News
  
  

• Health of Women Investor Summit 2026 — HOW Investor Summit
  
  

• Birth Control Skepticism, Teen Fertility Education Center Stage at Trump's Women's Health Summit — KFF Health News

Tonight: judges in the delivery room, more data on early menopause effects on the heart, one of the craziest abortion ban bills I’ve seen thus far, and more.

— Meghan McCarthy

GOP WANTS YOU TO CATCH FETAL TISSUE IN A BAG // You read that right! A bill from several House Republicans would require women to collect pregnancy tissue and blood in a biohazard "catch kit" and return it to the doctor who prescribed their abortion pill. Doctors who don't comply would face up to five years in prison. This isn’t going anywhere soon, but collecting expelled tissue is an extreme we haven’t seen in federal legislation lately (ever?).

EARLY MENOPAUSE IS A HEART PROBLEM // Women who stop menstruating before age 40 have a 40% higher risk of coronary heart disease, according to a JAMA Cardiology study published this week. Black women are three times more likely than white women to experience premature menopause, making the disparity one of the study's most pressing findings. Researchers don't yet know whether early menopause causes the elevated risk or signals it, but they say it should now be part of cardiovascular prevention conversations.

TRUMP WOMEN’S HEALTH CONFERENCE GETS KOOKY // KFF Health News reports that at the Trump administration’s inaugural women’s health conference, panelists promoted “restorative reproductive medicine” and raised concerns about hormonal birth control, while one physician affiliated with an anti-abortion institute said doctors should begin discussing future fertility with girls as young as 8.

A JUDGE DECIDED HOW THEY GAVE BIRTH WHILE IN LABOR // Two women in Florida with previous C-sections who wanted vaginal deliveries were instead subjected to emergency court hearings while in active labor, after their hospitals asked the state to override their medical decisions. ProPublica documents both cases and connects them to a broader pattern: Florida courts have ruled that pregnant patients can be forced into unwanted procedures, and a bill now moving through the state legislature could further expand fetal personhood protections.

HALF OF WOMEN WORLDWIDE AREN'T GETTING BASIC HEALTH SCREENINGS // The fifth annual Hologic Global Women's Health Index places the U.S. 13th globally, underscoring persistent gaps in women’s health outcomes even in high-income settings. There is some progress: testing rates for blood pressure, diabetes, and cancer all reached their highest levels since the Index began.

Tonight: What’s actually happening in perimenopausal brains, the senator officially targeting the abortion pill, Wall Street’s interest in women’s health — plus more.

THE BRAIN FOG IS REAL, BUT NOT WHAT YOU THINK // A study examining over 14,000 women ages 45 through 55 found perimenopausal and postmenopausal women report significantly more cognitive symptoms, such as brain fog and memory lapses, than premenopausal women. But objective cognitive testing showed almost no meaningful decline — and those symptoms were more strongly linked to mood, anxiety, and sleep than to measurable cognitive deficits.

WALL STREET FINALLY NOTICING (AGAIN) // The Health of Women Investor Summit at Nasdaq drew major pharma, VCs, banks, and other investors, a sign women’s health has made the move from edge case to capital priority. Funds in the space have grown 6x since the summit began, and McKinsey estimates that improving women’s health could add more than $1 trillion a year to the global economy, reflecting how large — and long overlooked — the gap is.

ABORTION PILL OFFICIALLY TARGETED IN CONGRESS // Republican Sen. Josh Hawley introduced legislation to strip FDA approval from mifepristone, the pill used in roughly 63% of US abortions. This is unlikely to get serious consideration in the Senate, as the Trump administration has tried to avoid unpopular abortion restrictions before the midterms. But expect it to become the new litmus test for Republicans. Keep in mind that the FDA says the drug is safe, backed by 25 years of data and a serious-complication rate under 1%.

…AND THE STORY FEW PREDICTED // The New York Review of Books has a deeply reported history of how the number of abortions has risen every year since 2022, even after the Supreme Court ended Roe vs. Wade. The answer isn’t a surprise to readers: it’s the abortion pill and telehealth. But the piece explains in great precision how we got here. (And why people like Hawley are targeting the pill.)

THE MENTAL HEALTH CRISIS HIDING INSIDE MENOPAUSE // Most women still aren’t aware menopause can affect mental health — a UK survey found only 28% knew it could trigger depression or anxiety. Meanwhile, evidence suggests perimenopause raises the risk of first-time major depression by ~30%, underscoring how often these symptoms are missed or misdiagnosed.

Tonight: what happened to federal food programs after states banned abortion, why pregnancy complications can haunt your heart for years afterward, botox at Planned Parenthood (plus more).

— Meghan McCarthy

ABORTION BANS INCREASE SPENDING // A study found states that had fully banned abortion at the start of 2023 saw birth rates rise nearly 2%, with around 14,500 additional births that year. At the same time, enrollment in WIC, a federal food program, increased over 4% for postpartum women and more than 2% for infants in those states, adding nearly $7 million in food costs across 13 states that year. The catch? The WIC budget is not set to absorb everyone who qualifies — meaning increases can lead to waiting lists.

PREGNANCY COMPLICATIONS CAN HAUNT THE HEART // Another reminder that pregnancy can shape long-term health: A study finds women who had complications like preterm birth or hypertensive disorders and who reported higher stress during and after pregnancy had slightly higher blood pressure two to seven years later, compared to women with lower stress. The effect was modest (about a 2 mm Hg difference), but researchers say the findings highlight the need for cardiovascular monitoring after complicated pregnancies, not just care during pregnancy itself.

BOTOX SAVING PLANNED PARENTHOOD? // The New York Times digs into life at a Planned Parenthood clinic that's pivoting to aesthetic procedures to keep the lights on. Reporter Alisha Haridasani Gupta covers a clinic in Sacramento that has started offering Botox injections and IV hydration treatments — pricing Botox at about $9 per unit, roughly 25–40% cheaper than many nearby medical spas.

WHY PREGNANT WOMEN ARE TURNING TO CANNABIS // A study analyzing national data found that just under 4% of pregnant women report using cannabis, and most say they’re trying to manage symptoms — especially mental health issues (83%) and nausea or gastrointestinal distress (77%). The findings suggest cannabis use during pregnancy may often reflect untreated symptoms like anxiety, nausea, or pain, raising questions about whether the health system is offering pregnant patients enough safe and effective alternatives.

A BLOOD TEST THAT SEES DEMENTIA COMING — DECADES OUT // A JAMA Network Open study found a blood biomarker linked to Alzheimer’s disease could flag women at higher risk of dementia up to 25 years before symptoms appear. Researchers analyzed blood samples from nearly 2,800 women collected in the late 1990s and found that higher levels of p-tau217, a protein fragment tied to early Alzheimer’s changes, were strongly associated with later dementia.

Tonight: how a White House press conference kept a trusted medication from thousands of pregnant women, what your mammogram might already know about your heart, (yet) more data showing abortion ban states are losing future doctors, and more.

— Meghan McCarthy

THE PRESIDENT IS A BAD PRESCRIBER // Last September President Trump told pregnant women at a White House briefing to avoid Tylenol, claiming without evidence that it causes autism. A new Lancet study tracked what happened next: ER acetaminophen orders for pregnant patients fell 10%, while orders for non-pregnant women didn't change. Untreated fever in pregnancy increases the risk of miscarriage, neural tube defects, and preterm birth; the researcher who led the study called it "thousands of women not getting pain control or fever reduction when they need it."

YOUR MAMMOGRAM IS DOING MORE THAN YOU THINK // A study of over 120,000 women found AI analysis can identify “arterial calcification” in routine mammogram images, helping them accurately predict heart attack, stroke, and heart failure risk (even in women under 50.) Nearly 70% of American women have had a mammogram, but fewer than 40% know their own cholesterol levels. Researchers are pushing for FDA review to make this a standard dual-purpose screen.

PERIMENOPAUSE TREATED LIKE AN AFTERTHOUGHT // Nature has a deep dive on how the vast majority of research on hormone therapy was conducted on postmenopausal women — not perimenopausal ones, whose hormones are still fluctuating. The resulting knowledge gap has been filled by an unregulated market of supplements, testosterone protocols, and other treatments with no long-term safety data.

BLOOD PRESSURE, NOT AGE // Life-threatening conditions caused by pregnancy, such as eclampsia, acute kidney failure, and sepsis, increased in the US between 2016 and 2022. The driver isn’t older mothers, but high blood pressure, either during pregnancy or before, and obesity. High blood pressure alone accounted for nearly a third of the total increase. The researchers' conclusion: if you want to prevent these crises, the time to act is before a woman gets pregnant, not when she's already on the delivery table.

STATES THAT BAN ABORTION ARE (YET AGAIN) LOSING FUTURE DOCTORS // After Dobbs, applications to residency programs in abortion ban states dropped sharply, particularly for specialties like OBGYN, family medicine, internal medicine, and emergency medicine. The study looked at 24 million applications across more than 4,000 programs and found states with the strictest bans are making themselves harder to staff.

Here are the trends we spotted this week in women’s health, and as always, scroll for the top clicked stories.

• 💉 Women lose more weight on GLP-1s than men. It's probably biology. A review of nearly 20,000 people found women on GLP-1 drugs lost more weight than men, and sex appeared to be the most meaningful differentiator. Age and race didn't explain the gap.
  

• 🔬 ACOG told doctors to stop waiting for surgery to diagnose endometriosis. The nation's largest OBGYN group updated its guidance, saying symptoms and imaging are enough and a diagnosis doesn’t require surgery. For patients who've spent years being dismissed, this is a big deal.
  

• 🏥 The body that decides which preventive screenings your insurance will cover hasn't met in a year. The USPSTF has now missed three consecutive meetings, and five members had terms that expired in January, with no replacements. On hold: finalized guidance on self-collected HPV testing, mammogram updates, and colorectal screening guidelines.

TOP CLICKED STORIES THIS WEEK

• Women on GLP-1s lost more weight than men — and it's likely biology — MedPage Today
  

• Estrogen patch shortages leave menopause patients without basics — New York Times
  

• ACOG releases updated endometriosis guidance — Medical Dialogues
  

• 911 calls from ICE detention center document pregnant women in crisis — ABC News
  

• Oregon eliminates surprise bills for cervical cancer care — Axios
  

• Louisiana mifepristone lawsuit could end telehealth abortion nationwide — News from the States
  

• Hypertensive pregnancy disorders linked to long-term cardiac risk — JAMA Internal Medicine

The CDC releases new maternal mortality numbers. A federal judge is days away from ruling on whether abortion pills can still be mailed. The body that decides which cancer screenings you get for free hasn't met in a year. And a new study of half a million women has a message for anyone who had a complicated pregnancy.

— Meghan

THE NUMBER THAT WON'T MOVE // The CDC reported 649 maternal deaths in 2024, down slightly from 669 the year before, but roughly where the U.S. stood before COVID spiked the count. Still, Black women died at more than three times the rate of white and Hispanic women. The dip could be "promising," or just a returns to baseline.

QUIET PARALYSIS // This story is really flying under the radar, but it’s important. CNN reports that the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF, they determine which screenings insurers must cover at no cost) has now missed three consecutive meetings. Five of its 16 members' terms expired in January and haven't been replaced. What do they need to consider? Finalized guidance on self-collected HPV testing, plus updates to mammogram and colorectal screening guidelines that millions of women rely on for free coverage.

WHAT THE 911 TAPES REVEAL // ABC News obtained emergency recordings from the ICE family detention center in Dilley, Texas, documenting staff calling ambulances for pregnant women and children multiple times a month. That included a three-month pregnant woman who lost consciousness, and another who was seizing. The calls span October 2025 through February 2026. ICE's own policy says pregnant women generally should not be detained.

YOUR PREGNANCY IS A CARDIAC RECORD // A JAMA Internal Medicine study of more than 500,000 women found that all subtypes of hypertensive pregnancy disorders, including gestational hypertension and preeclampsia, raise long-term cardiovascular risk, but women with superimposed preeclampsia faced nearly three times the risk of a cardiovascular event compared to those with uncomplicated pregnancies. The findings add to growing evidence that pregnancy history belongs in every woman's cardiac chart — and that most doctors still aren't asking.

THE PILL STILL IN THE BALANCE // A federal judge in Louisiana is weighing an injunction that would end telehealth prescriptions for mifepristone — no remote appointments, no pills by mail — in all fifty states. About 30% of U.S. abortions were provided via telehealth as of mid-2025. A ruling is expected soon.

What we’ve found in women’s health this week: A state quietly decided you shouldn’t pay to finish a cancer screening. Menopause demand just outpaced supply. Doctors are being told to believe women sooner. Bone health has become a competitive sport. And GLP-1s? The gender gap just got data.

STOPPING CERVICAL CANCER FOR FREE // Axios reports Oregon lawmakers unanimously passed a bill banning deductibles and copays not just for Pap tests, but for follow-up care after an abnormal result. If signed by Gov. Tina Kotek, Oregon would be the first state to eliminate out-of-pocket costs across the full cervical cancer screening process, so patients aren’t billed for actually finishing it.

WHERE’S MY PATCH? // The New York Times digs deeper on estrogen patches shortages nationwide, hitting 10 different estradiol formulations. Why? Prescriptions jumped 86% from 2021 to 2025 and manufacturers failed to keep up. Menopause may finally have more avenues for care, but it might be a while until patients can reliably get the basics.

TRUST THE PAIN // The nation’s biggest OBGYN group is telling doctors to stop waiting for surgery to diagnose endometriosis and to trust symptoms and imaging instead. The shift could spare patients years of dismissal, delay, and unnecessary pain.

BONES, BUT MAKE IT EXTREME // Emma Rosenblum takes on (and makes so fum of) the bone-density craze, from protein-loading to weighted-vest flexing: “I ask Dr. Tang if I have to dead lift my own weight, hop around the block or get a DEXA scan, and she laughs and says no. ‘If you’re not at high risk, you don’t have to do any of that,’ she says. ‘For the average person, it’s just lifestyle modifications. Some weight-bearing exercises, some strength training.’”

LADIES LOSE MORE // A review of nearly 20,000 people, women on GLP-1 drugs lost more weight than men, and that likely because of biology. Results were otherwise similar across age and race groups, suggesting sex may be one of the only meaningful differentiators in these high-cost meds.

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

🧠 America may be stretching postpartum depression, not shortening it. A cross-country study found US moms’ symptoms barely improve over five years, while peer nations see recovery. That points to policy as a cause, not biology. In other words, support systems could be shaping mental health outcomes.

❤️ We’re entering the 6-in-10 heart era. By 2050, most women are projected to have cardiovascular disease, and it’s hitting younger women earlier. Researchers say prevention is the only way this curve bends.

🤖 AI is starting to govern women’s health. Algorithms are identifying breast-cancer risk from mammograms while Facebook chatbots restrict abortion information. These systems will shape both who gets flagged and what people are allowed to know. How these systems are built will influence real-world care.

TOP CLICKED STORIES THIS WEEK

The Plot Against American Women // Throughline

Breast Cancer Screening and Risk Reduction // The Washington Post

Heart-Disease Risk Forecasts for Women by 2050 // STAT

Activity Restriction in Pregnancy and the Risk of Early Delivery // Obstetrics & Gynecology

Wisconsin Extends Postpartum Medicaid for New Mothers // ProPublica

U.S. Mothers Aren’t Recovering from Postpartum Depression // WebMD

In tonight’s edition: a newborn infection we still can’t prevent, a heart-disease wave building in plain sight, US depression that won’t lift, a country betting big on HPV shots—and an AI deciding what teens can ask about abortion.

THE NEWBORN GAP WE HAVEN’T FIXED // The New England Journal of Medicine reviews the state of Group B strep, a leading killer of newborns, and how antibiotics during labor don’t solve the whole problem. They say that vaccines in development could finally protect babies beyond birth. If they work, this would be one of the most meaningful maternal-infant prevention shifts in decades.

SIX IN TEN // By 2050, 6 in 10 women are projected to have cardiovascular disease—and it’s hitting younger women earlier. The American Heart Association says the drivers are structural: obesity, hypertension, diabetes, and a prevention system that waits too long. As one cardiologist put it: “We’re taking care of heart attacks quite well, but we’re really not preventing any. And so we’re seeing more disease in younger people, which I think is a terrible trend. We can’t treat our way out of this; we have to prevent our way out of this.”

STUCK FOR FIVE YEARS // A study looking at 31,500 moms’ mental health data from the US, UK, and Australia found that women in the US see their postpartum depression symptoms barely budge over five years, unlike the U.K. and Australia. The explanation they offer is that this isn’t biological—it’s policy. Thin parental leave and childcare support may be extending suffering far beyond the newborn stage.

A COUNTRY-WIDE CANCER PREVENTION PLAN // As the US Senate grills a surgeon general candidate who dodged vaccine questions, India just cleared a free, nationwide HPV vaccine program for 14-year-old girls. This move could dramatically cut cervical cancer deaths.

WHO GETS TO ASK ABOUT ABORTION? // Mother Jones got leaked documents from Meta showing their AI chatbot restricts abortion and sexual-health info for teens. The guidance explicitly banned providing information “‘that helps a user obtain or carry out an abortion (such as ‘You can go to Planned Parenthood to get an abortion’), or providing users with locational information that could be used to obtain abortions. It also prohibits the chatbot from providing a ‘value judgement’ for or against abortion.”