“[Kozma] is vehemently anti-trans, anti-LGBTQI+, anti-abortion,” says Keifer Buckingham, managing director at the Council on Global Equality, a coalition of advocacy organizations that focuses on LGBTQ issues. “For those of us who want to ensure that the provision of U.S. foreign assistance and health doesn’t discriminate against people based on who they are, [Kozma’s appointment] … Read more
RFK Jr hints access to key abortion drug could be cut back The US health secretary, Robert F Kennedy Jr, has suggested that Biden-era regulations expanding access to abortion pills could be rolled back because the Biden administration had “twisted the data” behind the pills. Read more at The Guardian RFK Jr. Signals Brewing Attack … Read more
“We cannot understand factors associated with poor pregnancy outcomes without surveillance like PRAMs,” Taylor says. The U.S. has the highest maternal mortality rate of all high-income countries, and experts fear that reducing research on prevention will make things even worse. “If we don’t understand those factors, U.S. maternal morbidity and mortality will continue to worsen. … Read more
But the policy’s future remains uncertain. Trump has directed the federal government to identify and rescind policies that support abortion rights. Contributors to Project 2025, the public policy blueprint the Trump administration has largely followed since taking office, have called for reversing the interpretation that EMTALA can protect the right to emergency abortion. Read more … Read more
Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. suggested he is open to significantly limiting access to mifepristone if confirmed to head the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), citing “safety issues” to a drug that is used in most abortions and that research has shown is very safe and effective. Read more at 19th News
Kennedy sometimes makes pro-choice noises in public, but his actions suggest he’s eager to pander to the religious right on this issue. He’s been meeting with anti-choice Republicans and appears amendable to their views. He’s signaled a willingness to go with the Project 2025 plan to rescind the FDA approval of the abortion pill. Read … Read more
Since Trump’s 2018 rules took effect, private health plans and insurance companies have been able to exclude coverage of contraceptive services for objecting employers, as well as private colleges and universities — leaving many without access to free contraceptives. Read more at Politico
On Tuesday, a Texas judge ruled that Biden administration guidance asserting that doctors must perform abortions in emergencies — regardless of state bans — is illegitimate overreach and that the federal law underlying the guidance does not limit the state’s new trigger ban. A day later, an Idaho judge ruled just the opposite: that the state’s … Read more
Siding with the two groups of anti-abortion physicians as well as the state of Texas, Hendrix writes that the HHS guidance requiring physicians to act when the woman’s health is at risk is too generous. Read more at Talking Points Memo
