When It Comes To Abortion, Both Sides Think They Have Upper Hand For The Midterms
Both anti-abortion and abortion rights groups are pouring money into campaigns for the 2018 midterms, which could prove to be a turning point for the divisive issue. In other women's health news: hospital closures leave expectant mothers scrambling to find care; midwives mean healthier babies, so why aren't they more common in the U.S.?; schizophrenia and unhealthy pregnancies; and untested rape kits.
The Hill:
Abortion Wars Flare For Midterm Election Campaign
President Trump and anti-abortion activists this week touted recent actions restricting abortion as helping to galvanize Republican voters for the midterm elections. But Democrats see it the other way around, arguing Trump’s actions to defund Planned Parenthood and roll back ObamaCare’s contraception mandate are going to hurt, not help, Republican candidates on the ballot in November. (Hellmann, 5/26)
The Associated Press:
Missouri Hospital Closure Problematic For Expectant Mothers
The sudden closure of a hospital has left some expectant mothers in the Missouri Bootheel region scrambling for care in an area that already has one of the highest infant mortality rates in the U.S. St. Louis Public Radio reports that Twin Rivers Regional Medical Center in Kennett recently announced that it will close in July. The closure will leave the surrounding area in southeast Missouri without an OB-GYN. (5/27)
ProPublica:
Video: How More Midwives May Mean Healthier Mothers
Midwives in the U.S. participate in less than 10 percent of births. But in Sweden, Denmark and France, they lead around three-quarters of deliveries. In Great Britain, they deliver half of all babies, including all three of Kate Middleton’s. So if the midwifery model works for royal babies, why not our own? (Chakraborty, 5/29)
Stat:
Schizophrenia 'Risk Genes' Aren't So Risky If Mother's Pregnancy Was Healthy
Far be it from us to tell 23andMe how to run its business, but if it or any other DNA company wants to give customers a better read of disease risk they might start asking how mom’s pregnancy went. That’s the key message of a schizophrenia study published Monday, which showed that 108 regions of the genome previously identified as raising the risk of schizophrenia do so only slightly if the mother experiences no complications during pregnancy — but by some 12-fold if she does. (Begley, 5/28)
Kansas City Star:
Missouri's 4,889 Untested Rape Kits Put More Women At Risk
Do not tell a survivor of rape that her state’s police departments, crime labs and hospitals are holding a stash of 4,889 untested rape kits. Not on the same day that one of the two men accused of raping her, pleaded guilty in the rape of another woman, a Johnson County sheriff’s deputy. (5/25)
