Global

The Untapped Power of Post-Menopausal Women

PUBLISHED 6/14/2026 by

Melinda French Gates announced last week a historic $215 million commitment to women’s health, including a $10 million gift to the Menopause Society. It is a beautiful and necessary act of generosity.

It arrives on the same day a new Mayo Clinic study showing hormone therapy use among menopausal women has dropped to a historic low of 1.7 percent—even as evidence of its safety has grown.

We are moving backward and forward at the same time.

French Gates put a spotlight on the fact that women’s health has been inexcusably underfunded. The questions to add to that conversation: What would medicine look like if it saw menopause not as nature’s mistake, but as evolution’s investment? What would our economy look like? What would our communities look like? What problems might we finally solve?

The science exists. The economic case is clear. And the legislative momentum is building. What is missing is the cultural shift that allows medicine, policy and society to see post-menopausal women not as a problem to manage, but as a resource we cannot afford to waste.

This Week in Women’s Representation: LA’s Next Mayor Will Be a Woman; Ranked-Choice Voting in Maine May Help Elect Back-to-Back Woman Governors 

PUBLISHED 6/12/2026 by

Weekend Reading on Women’s Representation is a compilation of stories about women’s representation in politics, on boards, in sports and entertainment, in judicial offices and in the private sector in the U.S. and around the world—with a little gardening and goodwill mixed in for refreshment!

—Los Angeles is sure to keep a woman as mayor, after City Council member Nithya Raman secured a spot in a runoff, currently holding 29 percent of the vote compared to Karen Bass’ 34 percent.
—June 11 marked the birthday of former U.S. Rep. Jeannette Rankin, the first woman elected to federal office in the U.S.
—On June 16, Washington, D.C., will hold its first primary elections with ranked-choice voting.
—Liberation playwright Bess Wohl is the first American woman to win the Tony for Best Play since 1989.

… and more.

America’s Medical Research System Has Been Failing Women for Generations

PUBLISHED 6/11/2026 by and

For decades, women have been systematically excluded, overlooked and underfunded by America’s scientific and medical institutions—and the consequences are measurable. Women were not required to be included in federally funded clinical research until 1993, and even today, no more than 8.8 percent of NIH grant spending goes toward women’s health research. The result is a dangerous knowledge gap that affects everything from cardiovascular disease and autoimmune disorders to drug safety, maternal health and reproductive care.

The problem transcends partisan politics. While the Trump administration’s cuts to women’s health research have intensified concerns, Democratic and Republican administrations alike have failed to prioritize women’s health.

Private philanthropy and venture capital have also fallen short, with women’s health receiving just a fraction of available funding.

As women face rising healthcare deserts, worsening maternal mortality rates and persistent gaps in diagnosis and treatment, meaningful progress will require action on every front—from federal investment and philanthropy to innovative new funding models focused specifically on women’s health research.

What the PCOS-PMOS Rebrand Tells Us About the State of Women’s Health Research

PUBLISHED 6/11/2026 by and

The announcement in May of 2026 that polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) will be renamed polyendocrine metabolic ovarian syndrome (PMOS) was a genuine milestone. After 14 years of global collaboration, 22,000 survey responses and workshops spanning every inhabited continent, researchers and patients finally agreed on a name that reflects what the condition actually is: not a quirk of the ovaries, but a complex, multi-system disorder of hormones, metabolism, and endocrine function affecting one in eight women worldwide.

For decades, the term polycystic had patients and clinicians alike focusing on ovarian cysts, while metabolic dysfunction and insulin resistance went underappreciated and undertreated. Patients report feeling dismissed, confused, and dissatisfied with their care. The very name, researchers concluded, contributed to stigma, delayed diagnosis and fragmented policy.

But renaming a disease is not the same as researching it. And for women’s health, the research has been underfunded and undervalued for so long that a vocabulary fix (however warranted) cannot close the gap on its own.

Rest in Power: Marjane Satrapi, Whose Masterpiece ‘Persepolis’ Transformed the World’s Understanding of Iran

PUBLISHED 6/8/2026 by

Marjane Satrapi, best known for her memoir and film Persepolis, has died, aged 56. The death of this much loved Iranian French artist, graphic novelist, filmmaker and activist has been met with widespread celebration of her life—and its dedication to resistance, freedom and humanity. French president Emmanuel Macron paid tribute to “a great artist who transformed an Iranian childhood into a universal fable.”

Satrapi illustrated the dislocations of revolution, migration, adolescence and return in such a way that her memoir travelled far beyond her home country.

Through its deceptively simple black-and-white illustrations, Persepolis became globally influential because it offered an intimate account of revolutionary Iran and exile that challenged dominant stereotypes.

For many readers, Satrapi is still the woman who explained Iran in the simplest, yet most powerful way.

Meet the Anti-Fracking Nanas

PUBLISHED 6/7/2026 by

It was a balmy August morning in Lancashire, a county in North West England known for its sweeping landscapes and greenery. But back in 2014, their idyllic community was facing an outside threat: Cuadrilla, an oil and gas giant and the only company in the United Kingdom with a license to frack, was about to commence shale gas exploration. If the hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, went ahead, then the site beneath the nanas’ feet would soon become an industrial wasteland—and the county’s residents would be forced to live with the consequences, unless someone was able to stop it.

The nanas clambered over fences, quickly putting up signs and wrangling tent poles. By 6 a.m., the first tent was up. The women sat on the ground, drinking tea and watching the sun rise above the field that would be their home for the next three weeks. Technically, they weren’t all grandmothers, but before long, this group of anti-fracking activists from Lancashire would be known as the Nanas, both at home and abroad. They’d regularly stage demonstrations, roadside tea parties, and eventually, even a protest outside Buckingham Palace.

And they wouldn’t be alone: In other communities being torn apart by fracking, older people around the world have also been taking the fight into their own hands, spending their golden years in protest. But what makes someone dedicate their later life to activism? To give up the dream of pottering around the garden, pushing grandchildren on swings and enjoying long vacations and their long-awaited retirement?

As it turns out, many of them felt they didn’t have a choice.

Remembering the Senate’s Passage of the 19th Amendment; June Primary Wins and Losses for Women; and Why Women Are Leading the Fight Against AI Data Centers

PUBLISHED 6/5/2026 by

Weekend Reading on Women’s Representation is a compilation of stories about women’s representation in politics, on boards, in sports and entertainment, in judicial offices and in the private sector in the U.S. and around the world—with a little gardening and goodwill mixed in for refreshment!

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This week marked the 107th anniversary of the U.S. Senate’s passage of the 19th Amendment, a reminder that democratic progress is rarely swift and never inevitable. Forty-one years after it was first introduced in Congress, the amendment’s passage reflected decades of organizing, advocacy and persistence by women determined to claim a voice in American democracy.

More than a century later, the anniversary offers an opportunity not only to celebrate that achievement, but also to reflect on the unfinished work of building a democracy that truly includes everyone.

That work continues to shape elections today. From consequential June primary contests across the country to debates over voting systems, women’s representation and democratic participation remain central to the political landscape. This week’s Weekend Reading on Women’s Representation roundup highlights key election results, emerging candidates and reform efforts that could influence who runs, who wins and whose voices are heard in the years ahead.

Also featured are new research connecting attacks on women’s and LGBTQ rights to broader threats to democracy, growing opposition to AI data centers led by women organizers, barriers facing women candidates and officeholders, and inspiring examples of women advancing political change around the world.

Together, these stories underscore a simple but enduring truth: Democracy works best when it is designed to include all of us.

Latin American Feminists Train U.S.-Based Doulas on New Mifepristone Protocol for Second-Trimester Abortions

PUBLISHED 6/5/2026 by

As Republicans create ever higher barriers to abortion that push abortion seekers later into pregnancy, U.S.-based activists are learning from Latin American feminists who have developed protocols to make second-trimester medication abortion easier and safe: using a double-dose mifepristone protocol for pregnancies 17 weeks of gestation and longer.

For second-trimester abortions, taking two mifepristone means needing less misoprostol, which eases painful contractions and shortens the time to uterine expulsion.

Whereas mifepristone’s side effects are mild—mainly headaches and some nausea that can be treated with medications—misoprostol causes diarrhea, chills and vomiting, which are much harder to experience. Using two mifepristone also significantly reduces the period of painful contractions—from 15 to 18 hours, to often less than six hours, which is critical for women who have to work or care for children or relatives.

Supported women have expressed great satisfaction with the process.

People seek abortion care later in pregnancy for the same reasons they do early in pregnancy, said Erika Christensen, cofounder of Patient Forward, which works to eliminate barriers to abortion care later in pregnancy and provides resources on how find later abortion care—but many are not able to access care as soon as they would like. “This could be because they learned a piece of new information later in their pregnancy, like a health threat to themselves or to the fetus, a new extenuating life circumstance, or it could be the new information could be that they’re pregnant.”

The FIFA World Cup and the Art of Looking Away

PUBLISHED 6/4/2026 by

When the Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) unveiled the first wave of celebrity promotions for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, the messaging was familiar: unity, celebration and global connection through sport.

Held every four years, the world’s largest international soccer (also known as football) tournament brings together national teams from around the globe to compete for the championship title. The right to host the World Cup is awarded through a competitive FIFA bidding process, with the 2026 tournament being awarded to a joint bid from the United States, Canada and Mexico.

But beneath the glossy advertisement campaigns and official anthems lies an institution repeatedly tied to corruption scandals, labor exploitation and human rights controversies that cannot be danced away by celebrity performances and spectacle marketing.  

Loving the game should not require ignoring the systems surrounding it. Because behind every glittering opening ceremony is an uncomfortable question FIFA would rather audiences not ask: Who is paying the price for the spectacle?

Too often it is people whose labor, rights and well-being are treated as expendable.