Category: women’s health

Before Michigan Legalized Surrogacy, Families Found Ways Around the Ban

Until this spring, Michigan was the only state that had a broad criminal ban on surrogacy. Many families say that left them in limbo: forcing them to leave the state to have children, finding strangers on Facebook who would carry their child, or going through the legal hassle of having to adopt their biological children.

KFF Health News’ ‘What the Health?’: GOP Platform Muddies Abortion Waters

As Donald Trump prepares to be formally nominated as the GOP’s candidate for president next week, the platform he will run on is taking shape. And in line with Trump’s approach, it aims to simultaneously satisfy hard-core abortion opponents and reassure more moderate swing voters. Meanwhile, the Federal Trade Commission takes on pharmacy benefits management firms. Shefali Luthra of The 19th News, Sandhya Raman of CQ Roll Call, and Jessie Hellmann of CQ Roll Call join KFF Health News’ chief Washington correspondent, Julie Rovner, to discuss these stories and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews Jennifer Klein, director of the White House Gender Policy Council, about the Biden administration’s policies to ensure access to reproductive health care.

GOP’s Tim Sheehy Revives Discredited Abortion Claims in Pivotal Senate Race

In Montana’s U.S. Senate race, Republican Tim Sheehy made the false claim that his Democratic opponent, incumbent Sen. Jon Tester, supports abortion “up to and including the moment of birth.”

Abortion and the 2024 Election: A Video Primer

The first presidential election since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade two years ago takes place in November, and abortion is sure to play a key role.

Planned Parenthood to Blitz GOP Seats, Betting Abortion Fears Can Sway Voters

The reproductive rights organization hopes to oust GOP incumbents from key California congressional seats by highlighting the possibility of a national abortion ban. A state Republican official calls it a swing and a miss, noting that, under Democrats, hospitals have closed maternity wards and filed for bankruptcy.

KFF Health News’ ‘What the Health?’: SCOTUS Term Wraps With a Bang

The Supreme Court has issued its final opinions for the 2023-24 term, including decisions affecting abortion access, the opioid epidemic, and how the federal government functions. In this special episode, Sarah Somers , legal director of the National Health Law Program, joins KFF Health News’ chief Washington correspondent, Julie Rovner, to discuss how the justices disposed of the term’s health-related cases and what those decisions could mean going forward.

Beyond PMS: A Poorly Understood Disorder Means Periods of Despair for Some Women

Premenstrual dysphoric disorder is estimated to affect around 5% of people who menstruate, but a lack of research and limited awareness of menstrual disorders — even among health care providers — can make getting care difficult.

KFF Health News’ ‘What the Health?’: SCOTUS Ruling Strips Power From Federal Health Agencies

In what will certainly be remembered as a landmark decision, the Supreme Court has overruled a 40-year-old precedent that gave federal agencies, rather than judges, the power to interpret ambiguous laws passed by Congress. Administrative experts say the decision will dramatically change the way key health agencies do business. Also, the court decided not to decide whether a federal law requiring hospitals to provide emergency care overrides Idaho’s near-total ban on abortion. Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, Victoria Knight of Axios, and Joanne Kenen of Johns Hopkins University and Politico Magazine join KFF Health News chief Washington correspondent Julie Rovner to discuss these stories and more. Plus, for “extra credit,” the panelists suggest health policy stories they read this week they think you should read, too.

1st Biden-Trump Debate of 2024: What They Got Wrong, and Right

A debate marked by President Joe Biden’s faltering performance featured clashes over insulin costs, inflation, abortion, immigration, and Jan. 6.

Republicans Are Downplaying Abortion, but It Keeps Coming Up

Torn between a base that wants more restrictions on reproductive health care and a moderate majority that does not, it seems many Republicans would rather take an off-ramp than a victory lap when it comes to abortion. But they can’t escape talking about it.