Democrats want to vote on contraceptive rights to highlight GOP policies
In June the Senate will vote on legislation designed to protect access to contraception, with Republicans expected to block the bill and show their cards on an issue that is expected to be a major campaign issue. Meanwhile, in Texas, an anti-abortion doctor was appointed to the state maternity committee.
The Hill: Democrats want to force Senate GOP to vote on contraception
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (DN.Y.) announced Wednesday that the Senate will vote next month on legislation to protect women’s access to contraception, setting up a campaign issue for the fall. Democrats hope Republicans will block the bill, just as they have blocked legislation protecting access to in vitro fertilization, which Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Mississippi) said includes “poison pills.” (Bolton, 5/22)
Texas Tribune: Anti-abortion doctor appointed to Texas Maternity Committee
A leading anti-abortion doctor has been appointed to Texas’ Maternal Mortality Review Committee. Dr. Ingrid Scopp, an OB/GYN from San Antonio, will serve in the role designated for a community member representing a rural area. (Klibanoff, 5/22)
Stateline: New rules protect pregnant workers, but red states sue over abortion provisions
Natasha Jackson was four months pregnant when she told her supervisor she was pregnant. It was 2008, and Jackson was an account executive at a rental furniture store in Charleston, South Carolina—the only female employee there. “I actually hid my pregnancy for as long as I could because I was scared of what might happen,” she said. (Claire Wallers, 5/22)
In other reproductive health news –
North Carolina health news: Parents lobby to raise awareness about stillbirth, a ‘silent epidemic’
Brittany Day will never forget when she saw the lifeless bodies of her twin daughters Sophie and Ruby in a hospital ultrasound in 2017. The day before, she had felt some irregular movements. She thought it was a sign of healthy babies, but now she knows it wasn’t. (Vespa, 5/22)
Tampa Bay Times: Fertility leave: Why the global IVF market is booming
Kendra Riley was 39. She had just broken up with her fiancé. Doctors said her ovaries must not be releasing eggs regularly. She had wanted a baby since she was 30. It seemed impossible. In vitro fertilization seemed the only option left, but the St. Petersburg flight attendant’s health insurance didn’t cover it. The nearly $30,000 quotes she received from two Tampa Bay clinics were out of her reach. (O’Donnell, 5/22)
NPR: Uterine Fibroids: Benign, Common, and Sometimes Debilitating
When Tanika Gray Valbrunn was 13 years old, she got her first period at a family celebration. This was obvious because she was wearing white shorts and her flow was heavy. Every time she had her period, this heaviness would persist, accompanied by intense pain. Tanika didn’t learn until her mid-twenties that these debilitating periods – and constant fertility struggles – were caused by fibroids, benign uterine tumors. But just because they aren’t cancerous doesn’t mean they can’t cause problems. (McCoy, Kwong and Ramirez, 5/22)
Bloomberg: Mapping the human ovary, cell by cell
Since 2016, a global consortium of researchers has been mapping the cells of the human body. Known as the Human Cell Atlas, the program aims to understand and improve health outcomes, particularly those related to the origins of disease. A recent contribution to the project advances that goal with respect to the ovary. In a paper published in Science Advances in April, a group of scientists from the University of Michigan described how they mapped the human ovary at a single-cell resolution. (Bliss, 5/22)
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