Trump nominates Heidi Overton to head the FDA – news round-up

Trump expected to pick conservative policy wonk Heidi Overton to lead FDA In terms of her policy positions, The New York Times highlights that Overton has written articles calling abortion “corrosive” to women and calling abortion pills “far more dangerous to women,” despite extensive data suggesting that abortion pills are extremely safe. Read more at … Read more

Republican Senators Are Turning Todd Blanche’s Confirmation Fight Into an Anti-Abortion Free-For-All

It’s no surprise that several of the asks of Blanche are about restricting access to medication abortion specifically. Conservatives are furious that abortions have increased, not decreased, since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, in large part due to the availability of abortion pills via telehealth in all 50 states. Project 2025 outlined several … Read more

Blanche assures anti-abortion supporters that Dobbs will be ‘permanent in every single state’

On a recording of the call posted online Thursday by the religious group Intercessors for America and hosted by the White House Faith Office, Blanche lamented that the Trump administration’s efforts to restrict abortion are “taking longer than we want” but said the Justice Department was “working hand in hand” with federal health agencies and … Read more

The Push to Elect Kansas Supreme Court Justices Is a Cynical Anti-Abortion Power Grab

Republicans, for their part, have not been shy about their motives. In 2022, then-attorney general candidate Kris Kobach called judicial elections “another path” to restricting abortion, and predicted that instituting them would allow conservatives to “slowly and quietly” overhaul the Kansas Supreme Court. In November 2025, gubernatorial candidate Ty Masterson told anti-abortion voters that supreme court elections … Read more

The new teen pregnancy prevention plan isn’t that focused on prevention

In doing so, it will pivot away from programs that serve populations in areas with the greatest need and that use particular evidence-based programming to reduce teen pregnancies — and some say the new language puts a greater focus on planning for pregnancy rather than preventing it. Read more at 19th News  

FCC General Counsel Channels Founding Fathers To Falsely Claim First Amendment Allows Banning Porn

The report also calls for the return of Comstock laws and the patchwork of anti-vice statutes that were historically used to prosecute individuals for “obscene” devices, the transmission of “prurient” content, and other prohibitions that lasted into the 20th century. Most alarming, he views the high court’s 6-3 decision in the Paxton case as an … Read more

The pastor who wants to repeal voting rights for women is becoming more mainstream

Wilson is a self-described Christian nationalist who wants to repeal a woman’s right to vote, has defended slavery and believes homosexuality should be a crime. His beliefs are extreme, and not long ago they were considered fringe. But today, Wilson’s teachings are entering the mainstream, according to religion and history scholars, including Kristin Kobes Du … Read more