U.S. Senators Urge FDA Update to Mifepristone Label for Miscarriage Use: ‘Patients Should Have Access to the Most Effective Medication Available’

For years doctors have prescribed mifepristone off label for miscarriage treatment, a practice allowable by the FDA. But now, new state bans and restrictions on medication abortion has raised concerns that prescribing mifepristone could lead to criminal prosecution of healthcare providers. Reproductive health advocates are now urging the FDA to specifically label mifepristone for miscarriage treatment.

“Patients experiencing an early miscarriage should have access to the most effective medication available.”

The Supreme Court Dobbs Leak Never Really Mattered. They Just Told Us So.

The leak was a distraction meant to shift focus away from where is should have been: the disastrous harm that overturning Roe for the women, trans and nonbinary people who depend on abortion access to obtain the reproductive healthcare they deserve.

The Court cares more about its power than it does this leak—and so should we. Supreme Court reform is essential to protect against the next decision that does such harm to our rights, whether it’s leaked or not.

War on Women Report: Abortion Unavailable in 14 States; Harvey Weinstein Is Guilty; Tucker Carlson Named ‘Misinformer of the Year’

U.S. patriarchal authoritarianism is on the rise, and democracy is on the decline. But day after day, we stay vigilant in our goals to dismantle patriarchy at every turn. The fight is far from over. We are watching, and we refuse to go back. This is the War on Women Report.

This month: WNBA star Brittney Griner is home; abortion is unavailable in 14 states, the number of women experiencing police force is rising; Harvey Weinstein was found guilty of sexual assault; Fox News star Tucker Carlson was named ‘Misinformer of the Year;’ and more.

Dr. Curtis Boyd: A Lifetime at the Borders of Abortion’s Legality

‘Is abortion legal in the United States?’ How should we even respond to that question? One way is by telling the stories of those who have lived at the borders of abortion’s illegality, such as Dr. Curtis Boyd.

Boyd, now 85, provided illegal abortions to patients in the pre-Roe era. He successfully ran abortion clinics in Dallas and Albuquerque—devoting much of his career to crossing and re-crossing the Texas-New Mexico border, alongside his wife and business partner, Dr. Glenna Halvorson-Boyd, a reproductive rights activist and trainer of abortion counselors. Today, his Dallas clinic can no longer offer abortions. But he and other “doctors of conscience” remain committed to providing a safe space for those in need of abortion.

Dobbs’ Effect on Military Women: ‘Our Fighting Force Is Hindered and Our Security Is at Risk’

Forty percent of active-duty service women in the U.S. are stationed in states with abortion bans, as are 43 percent of civilian women working in the military. The time, cost and stress of traveling out of state will no doubt take a tremendous toll not only on women seeking abortion, but on the military itself and national security.

“Women who are active-duty service members do not get to choose what state they live in, which means they could lose abortion access at the whim of any state with an abortion ban.”

Why Military Women Are at Greater Risk of Breast Cancer

Millions of troops and their families stationed on contaminated military installations were exposed to a deadly combination of toxins responsible for triggering fatal illnesses. North Carolina’s Camp Lejeune is perhaps the most notorious example of widespread contamination affecting U.S. army bases.

Congress passed the Honoring Our PACT Act in August to facilitate veterans’ access to improved benefits through the V.A. for service-connected toxic exposure. The bill recognizes 23 new diseases as presumptive conditions—but breast cancer still isn’t one of them.

Midterms and ‘Mid-Cycle Spotting’: Getting Real About Women’s Health

We have been left all alone, our bodies overlooked by the law and undermined by the courts. We’re left, quite literally, to save our own lives. But perhaps one silver lining of the overturning of Roe v. Wade has been creating space for women to openly and deliberately trace the arc of their reproductive lives—in public—from menstruation to menopause.

As advocates, scholars and providers now work to reimagine and rebuild what meaningful reproductive care looks like in this country, we have an opportunity to be more holistic in addressing the full continuum of women’s reproductive lives. Private sector interventions and public policy solutions must reflect those intersections. Period. Full stop. 

Anti-Abortion Groups Ask Trump-Appointed Judge to Ban Mailing Abortion Pills

Anti-abortion advocates have filed a federal lawsuit challenging FDA approval of the medication mifepristone. It seeks to revive the 1873 Comstock Law—named after the zealous anti-vice crusader Anthony Comstock—to ban the medication now used for over half of abortions in the United States.

“When they look at the courts, they think, ‘Why wouldn’t the courts be friendly to us even if we are making new things up?’ The Supreme Court just overturned a 50-year precedent that took away half the population’s fundamental right to control their bodies, so why wouldn’t they try?”

The Senate Must Prioritize Pregnant Workers and Moms Like Me During the Lame-Duck Session

In 2019, I was working as a cashier for a large grocery store chain in Louisiana when I became pregnant with my second child. When the store’s management found out about my restrictions, they pushed me out of my job.

The Pregnant Workers Fairness Act would close a legal loophole in the landmark Pregnancy Discrimination Act by ensuring that all employers provide pregnant and postpartum workers with modest accommodations on the job. The bill has passed in the House twice but it still hasn’t gotten a vote in the Senate, even though it has enough Republican and Democratic votes to pass. It is urgently needed and wildly popular. A recent poll showed 90 percent of Americans support the bill.