This week, Dr. Kristin Lyerly, Dr. Erin Stevens, and Dr. Chris Ford dig into a troubling new data trend: deaths from ectopic pregnancies have nearly doubled nationally since 2020. In states with strict abortion bans, that rate has almost quadrupled compared to states without them. We also note that the CDC’s Division of Reproductive Health, the very team that would investigate these deaths, has been largely sidelined, leaving major questions unanswered.
From there, the conversation turns to the ongoing legal battle over mifepristone access. We break down last week’s developments in the Louisiana case against the FDA, which seeks to ban telehealth prescribing of the medication nationwide, and a separate case out of Texas and Florida aiming to revoke the drug’s FDA approval entirely.
We also spotlight HHS’s decision to cancel Office of Minority Health grants funding infant mortality prevention, cancer screening, and postpartum home visits — reportedly to redirect resources toward erectile dysfunction and sperm count research. Second, revelations about Senator Dr. Roger Marshall of Kansas, a former OBGYN who, while in private practice, sued roughly 700 of his own patients and had more than 80 arrested over unpaid medical bills as small as $101. On a brighter note, they highlight a $100 million philanthropic commitment from the Walton family aimed at cutting the U.S. maternal mortality rate in half by 2031.
Kristin and Erin sit down with Skye Perryman, President and CEO of Democracy Forward, an organization that has sued the Trump administration hundreds of times and WON the majority of those cases. Skye walks through two active lawsuits: one challenging changes to Title X family planning funding alongside Planned Parenthood, and another defending teen pregnancy prevention grants in Hennepin County, Minnesota, a program with a strong evidence base that the administration is attempting to redirect toward unproven, ideologically driven approaches. Skye explains what’s legally and practically at stake in both cases, and why she sees them as part of a broader pattern of using politics to override science-based healthcare policy.
Skye then discusses her new book, Ordinary People, Extraordinary Times, a practical guide for people who want to get involved but don’t know where to start. She offers concrete ways listeners can plug into advocacy work at whatever level fits their time and capacity.
The episode wraps with reminders about voter registration deadlines ahead of the midterms and a call for listeners to stay engaged in the fight for evidence-based reproductive healthcare
LINKS
Rolling Stone: Olivia Rodrigo’s Daisy Chain Fields Festival Raises $10 Million for Women and Girls Nonprofits
Rolling Stone: Melinda French Gates Doubles Olivia Rodrigo’s Daisy Chain Fields Donation to $20 Million
The Hill: States sue Trump administration over family planning grant changes
Dept. of Justice: Challenges illegal Trump administration conditions on funding for reproductive health care, cancer screenings
Roll Call: Cassidy says abortion pill makers turn blind eye to safety
Mirror Indy: Indiana’s abortion ban has a ‘chilling effect’ on ER pregnancy care
Stars and Stripes: Lawsuit over sexual assault aboard Navy transport ship dismissed as worker’s comp issue
KCTV: New Missouri law allowing pregnant women to get divorced may cause custody dispute complications
PBS News Hour: Custody fight over baby born via surrogate sparks fear of fertility treatment restrictions
Virginia Mercury: If Va.’s reproductive rights amendment passes, challengers say they’ll fight to overturn it in court
FOLLOW THE DOCS ON SOCIAL MEDIA
Dr Kristin Lyerly (@drkristinlyerly)
Dr Erin Stevens (@erinstevensmdobgyn)
Dr Chris Ford (@doc_4ord)
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