Health

Moms and Caregivers Protest Proposed Medicaid, SNAP Cuts Amidst Disapproval for Budget Reconciliation Bill Measures

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A crowd of mothers, caregivers and children dressed as bees entered the Hart Senate Office building on Wednesday morning to call out Republican senators, who are rushing a budget reconciliation bill that would drastically reduce the number of people eligible for Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).

In addition to its Medicaid and SNAP cuts, MomsRising members in attendance on June 25 said they were concerned about the bill’s immigration provisions (it aggressively funds ICE), its impact on education, its reproductive healthcare cuts and its decimation of gun control measures.

The Big Beautiful Bill? A Big Bad Blow to Maternity Care

The “Big Beautiful Bill” is really a Big Bad Blow to millions suffering an already inadequate and inequitable maternity care system.

While policymakers debate in distant chambers, local organizations and midwife-led community-based initiatives are bracing to weather the coming storm.

(This essay is part of a collection presented by Ms. and the Groundswell Fund highlighting the work of Groundswell partners advancing inclusive democracy.)

Keeping Score: Americans Oppose Mass Deportations; Supreme Court Upholds Free Preventive Care Under ACA

In every issue of Ms., we track research on our progress in the fight for equality, catalogue can’t-miss quotes from feminist voices and keep tabs on the feminist movement’s many milestones. We’re Keeping Score online, too—in this biweekly roundup.

This week:
—marking three years since the Dobbs decision overturned Roe v. Wade
—”Deep cracks are showing in the Trump and Miller mass deportation agenda,” said Vanessa Cárdenas, executive director of America’s Voice.
—Rest in power, Minnesota Speaker Emerita Melissa Hortman and her husband Mark, who were assassinated in an act of political violence. “Political violence of any kind has no place in our democracy,” said Democratic Women’s Caucus chair Rep. Teresa Leger Fernández (D-N.M.).
—The Supreme Court upheld bans on gender-affirming care for minors.
—Harvey Weinstein was again convicted of a criminal sex act.
—raising awareness for LGBTQ Equal Pay Day
—82% of Democrats and 68% of Republicans believe funding for childcare should increase. 

… and more.

$133 Billion in Economic Loss. Tens of Thousands Forced to Flee. This Is Post-Roe America.

It has been exactly three years since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade and sent abortion rights back to the states. Amid myriad reflective headlines this week—what the ruling has meant for real people’s lives, for the trajectory of the Court and other established liberty rights and for our democracy—are numerous reports detailing in stark numbers the nationwide impact of the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization ruling.

The number of abortion patients who traveled out of state for care is nearly twice the pre-Dobbs baseline. New data released by the Guttmacher Institute shows that in 2024 the number dropped from the prior year—155,000 patients versus 170,000 in 2023—but still reflects a massive jump from 2020, when 81,000 abortion patients traveled out of state.

The Supreme Court Doesn’t Really Care About Originalism. ‘Medina v. Planned Parenthood’ Just Proved It.

By upholding a South Carolina order that strips Medicaid funding from abortion providers, the Supreme Court abandoned both patient choice and the original civil rights vision behind Medicaid.

Medicaid funding is crucial for low-income Americans—it’s the vital thread that connects them with healthcare in a society where universal healthcare does not exist. 

Supreme Court Allows States to Exclude Reproductive Health Clinics From Medicaid

In a landmark decision released Thursday morning, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 6-3 in favor of South Carolina in Medina v. Planned Parenthood, granting states the authority to exclude reproductive health clinics from their Medicaid programs—even when those clinics provide essential care such as cancer screenings, birth control and STI testing. This decision could embolden Republican-led states to “defund” Planned Parenthood across the country.

Three Years After Dobbs, Abortion Numbers Have Surprisingly Gone Up

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After the Supreme Court paved the way for a dozen or more states to ban abortion for the first time in almost half a century, abortion access is thriving in ways no one predicted.

How did such a counterintuitive phenomenon happen? Our recent book, After Dobbs: How the Supreme Court Ended Roe but Not Abortion, helps explain what’s going on behind the numbers. In simplest terms, this increase came about through a combination of an extraordinary mobilization on the part of abortion providers and their allies, the grit and determination of people who decide to have an abortion, and the massive amount of money poured into pro-abortion groups after Dobbs.

‘This Will Delay Care’: N.C. Doctor Warns of Harm After Trump’s Rollback on Emergency Abortion Rule

Earlier this month, the Trump administration canceled a 2022 directive issued under the Biden administration that said hospitals had to provide abortion care if it was needed to save a patient’s life or prevent serious harm. The rule was based on a federal law called the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act, known as EMTALA, which requires emergency rooms to treat and stabilize all patients regardless of their ability to pay.

While North Carolina law allows abortions in cases where a patient’s life or health is in danger, the previous federal guidance offered clearer protections. Without it, doctors may be less sure about what’s allowed, and hesitate to act quickly in emergencies.

Working People Build Food Solutions, While Congress Slashes SNAP

On Thursday nights, I walk a few blocks along my neighborhood’s cracked sidewalks to The People’s Market. SNAP is the glue that holds The People’s Market together, where most of the vendors are recipients selling at the market to supplement their incomes.

We’ve long known that the U.S. food system is upside-down. Instead of trying to fix this broken system, Congress is punishing the victims of its malfunctioning and is slashing SNAP to enact tax cuts for the rich.