Women's Issues

MADISON, Wisc. — A county circuit court judge in Wisconsin has ruled that the 1849 law on which the state bases its abortion prohibition does not actually apply to abortion at all. As a result, abortions are now once again... Read More

ANNAPOLIS, Md. — The state of Maryland has entered into a four-year partnership with a Boston, Massachusetts-based nonprofit to eliminate barriers to contraceptive care. In an announcement on Tuesday, Gov. Wes Moore said the cooperative agreements between the Maryland Department... Read More

WASHINGTON — A new initiative announced by the White House this week aims to fundamentally change how the nation approaches and funds research into women’s health, closing a gender gap that has long had serious consequences for more than half... Read More

BOSTON (AP) — In 1648, Margaret Jones, a midwife, became the first person in Massachusetts — the second in New England — to be executed for witchcraft, decades before the infamous Salem witch trials. Nearly four centuries later, the state and... Read More

Are 3D mammograms better than standard 2D imaging for catching advanced cancers? A clinical trial is recruiting thousands of volunteers — including a large number of Black women who face disparities in breast cancer death rates — to try to find out.... Read More

WASHINGTON — People living in areas with high levels of particulate air pollution are likely to experience an increased incidence of breast cancer, according to a new study conducted by National Institutes of Health researchers. Their work, published in the... Read More

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — For nearly 30 years, Democratic and Republican lawmakers in Pennsylvania have approved millions of taxpayer dollars for an anti-abortion program. Now the state's new governor plans to end the contract as the organization that distributes those... Read More

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has given its approval of the first oral medication to treat postpartum depression, a condition that is believed to impact one in seven women during the latter stages of pregnancy and after... Read More

WASHINGTON — The Food and Drug Administration on Thursday approved a birth control pill to be sold without a prescription in the United States.  The agency’s approval of the over-the-counter medication this morning is a first, and is seen as... Read More

WASHINGTON — First Lady Dr. Jill Biden and Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, were among those in attendance to honor America’s women veterans and recognize 75 years of women’s integration into the U.S. Armed Forces at a “Women Veterans Recognition Day”... Read More

WASHINGTON (AP) — Women often use hormone therapy to relieve hot flashes and other menopause symptoms — and new research suggests patches or creams may be safer for their blood pressure than pills. As women's bodies produce lower levels of... Read More

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — The only five women in South Carolina's 46-member Senate have vowed to resist new abortion restrictions up for debate after the group filibustered a near-total ban last month. But it remains to be seen whether the... Read More

WASHINGTON (AP) — One woman had to carry her baby, missing much of her skull, for months knowing she'd bury her daughter soon after she was born. Another started mirroring the life-threatening symptoms that her baby was displaying while in... Read More

RALEIGH, N.C. — North Carolina’s Republican-led Legislature voted Tuesday night to ban most abortions after 12 weeks, overriding Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper’s previous veto of the measure. In a pair of party-line votes, the North Carolina General Assembly voted 72-48... Read More

Edna Adan Ismail, a nurse-midwife, hospital founder, and health care advocate who for decades has combated female circumcision and strived to improve women’s health care in East Africa, was named Tuesday as winner of the 2023 Templeton Prize, one of... Read More

WASHINGTON — A panel of federal health advisors voted unanimously on Wednesday to approve the first over-the-counter sale of a medical contraceptive. The vote came at the end of a two-day meeting during which the panel, which offers nonbinding recommendations... Read More

Abortion providers in three states filed a lawsuit Monday aimed at preserving access to the abortion pill mifepristone, even as the drug is threatened by a separate Texas lawsuit winding its way through U.S. court system. The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District... Read More

Courts this week blocked abortion restrictions from taking effect in two states, while lawmakers in a third are forging ahead with a plan for a new ban that's less stringent than most. Those are some of the latest developments in... Read More

HARRISBURG, Pa. — Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro made a little history on Monday, not only signing his first bill into law, but also signing a first-of-its-kind in the nation bill eliminating all costs for preventative breast cancer screenings for women... Read More

WASHINGTON (AP) — Two hospitals that refused to provide an emergency abortion to a pregnant woman who was experiencing premature labor put her life in jeopardy and violated federal law, a first-of-its-kind investigation by the federal government has found. The findings, revealed... Read More

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Abortion bans in deeply conservative Nebraska and South Carolina each fell a single vote short of passing in their legislatures amid heated debates among Republicans, yet another sign that abortion is becoming a difficult issue for the GOP. As the... Read More

WASHINGTON (AP) — She swaggered, she jabbed, she inspired. She even joked. Anyone looking for a glimpse of what Vice President Kamala Harris could bring to the campaign trail would have found it this week at Howard University, where she... Read More

WASHINGTON — The Department of Justice and drug company Danco Laboratories asked the Supreme Court on Friday to continue to afford women access to a popular abortion drug, while the legal battle rages on concerning its use. Mifepristone was approved... Read More

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — A federal appeals court ruled that the abortion pill mifepristone can still be used for now but reduced the period of pregnancy when the drug can be taken and said it could not be dispensed by mail. The... Read More

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Texas case that could cut off access to the most commonly used abortion medication has started on a path through the legal system that could quickly lead to the Supreme Court. The drug, mifepristone, was approved... Read More

MORRISTOWN, N.J. — Rep. Mikie Sherrill, D-N.J., hosted a Facebook Live discussion this past week to discuss disparities in treatment and health outcomes for women suffering from cardiovascular disease and during cardiac events.  Joining Sherrill in conversation was Dr. Linda... Read More

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — After years of setbacks, abortion-rights supporters in Republican-leaning Kentucky thought they achieved a breakthrough in November, when voters defeated a measure aimed at denying any constitutional protections for abortion. But their hopes that the state's sweeping abortion ban... Read More

SENECA FALLS, N.Y. (AP) — A new group of National Women's Hall of Fame inductees includes social justice pioneers, groundbreaking physicians and women who have championed Jewish feminist theology and the financial well-being of Native Americans, the institute announced Wednesday.... Read More

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — A new abortion provider is opening this year in Democratic-controlled Maryland — just across from deeply conservative West Virginia, where state lawmakers recently passed a near-total abortion ban. The Women’s Health Center of Maryland in Cumberland,... Read More

DAVENPORT, Iowa (AP) — No elected Republican has done more to restrict abortion rights in the U.S. than Donald Trump. But in the early days of the 2024 presidential contest, no Republican has worked harder to avoid the issue than the... Read More