Abortion, Law, Women's Health

Texas Abortion Ruling Nears, But Blue States Aren’t Waiting to Protect Pill Access

A federal judge in Texas soon could make one of the two pills used in medication abortions harder to come by, even in blue states that support abortion rights.  Officials and advocates in those states aren’t waiting for the judge to rule. They’re trying to ensure continued access to the drugs that a growing number of Americans are using to end their pregnancies at home.

Aging, Law, Medicaid, Medicare, Seniors

Supreme Court Case Could Curtail Rights of Medicaid Patients

Twenty-two Republican-leaning states have urged the Supreme Court to block beneficiaries of federal safety net programs from suing. If the court agrees participants in many federal entitlement programs could lose the right to go to court when they believe a state, city or county has violated their rights in the administration of those programs.

Picture of a man's arm extended pointing an semi-automatic hand gun
Injury Prevention, Law, Public Health

Health Harms of Mass Shootings Ripple Across Communities

Research shows that mass shootings lead to higher rates of depression and anxiety and higher risks for suicide among young people. They also lead to an overall decline in a community’s sense of well-being. Some studies suggest that mass shootings damage economic prospects in a community, diminishing productivity and earnings. 

Abortion, Ethics, Law, Women's Health

Abortion decision cherry-picks history – when the US Constitution was ratified, women had much more autonomy over abortion decisions than during 19th century

As a medical procedure, abortion was widespread in Colonial and 18th-century America. By using more or less safe techniques, midwives and medical practitioners performed many types of operations on their patients. The woman could easily die, of course; but when she sought an abortion, no social, legal or religious force would have blocked her.

Abortion, Law, Politics

Impending demise of Roe v. Wade puts a spotlight on a major privacy risk: Your phone reveals more about you than you think

Using a maps app to plan a route, sending terms to a search engine and chatting online are ways that people actively share their personal data. But mobile devices share far more data than just what their users say or type. They share information with the network about whom people contacted, when they did so, how long the communication lasted and what type of device was used.