The Quiet Collapse of America’s Reproductive Health Safety Net
CBS News, October 27, 2025
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Population Affairs, which administers the Title X Family Planning Program, has been effectively shut down. At the same time, Medicaid cuts, the potential lapse of Affordable Care Act subsidies, as well as cuts across programs in the Health Resources and Services Administration and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are eroding the broader safety net … Congress could restore Title X and rebuild OPA’s staffing, but without administrators in place, money can’t reach clinics quickly. States have a short window to bridge care by stabilizing Medicaid coverage, shoring up community health centers, and protecting contraceptive access.
Texas Attorney General Sues Tylenol Company Over Autism Claims
The Texas Tribune, October 28, 2025
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is suing Johnson and Johnson, accusing the pharmaceutical company of failing to warn consumers about the risk of taking Tylenol while pregnant. This lawsuit, the first of its kind from a state government, comes a month after President Donald Trump and U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. announced updated guidance discouraging pregnant women from taking acetaminophen, citing it as a possible cause of autism…The science around Tylenol and autism is uncertain … Major medical associations rejected Kennedy and Trump’s claims as overly generalized and potentially harmful.
These States Will Ignore Your Final Wishes Just Because You’re Pregnant
HuffPost, October 28, 2025
Advance directives exist for a reason, as a means for a person to preemptively state in a legal document what they want to happen if they are near death or incapacitated in a lasting way. However, depending on the state you live in, your final wishes … can actually be ignored or bypassed just because you are pregnant … Of the 31 states that had restrictions on taking pregnant people off life support, 29 of these states have restrictions in their state statutes. However, 69% of the advance directive forms from these states made no mention of them … “All of us who care about bodily autonomy are broken records when we say this: pregnancy is too complicated to legislate,” [Dr. Jennifer] Lincoln said.
When SNAP Benefits Expire: How Paused Aid Ripples Through Mothers And Markets
Forbes, October 29, 2025
When federal shutdowns or budget impasses freeze SNAP payments, the pause reverberates through homes, clinics, and entire local economies. Mothers who rely on benefits to buy groceries must make trade-offs that ripple outward, reducing family nutrition, straining health systems, and slowing the everyday economic rhythm of the neighborhoods where they live … A cohort study published in JAMA Network Open found that about fourteen percent of pregnant women surveyed experienced food insecurity. Those women faced higher risks of gestational diabetes, pre-eclampsia, pre-term birth, and infant admission to intensive care. Among those who received food-assistance benefits, these elevated risks were largely neutralized.
Wisconsin Planned Parenthood Resumes Offering Abortions After a Nearly Monthlong Pause
Associated Press, October 27, 2025
Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin resumed scheduling abortions on Monday after a nearly monthlong pause due to federal Medicaid funding cuts in President Donald Trump’s tax and spending bill that took effect at the beginning of October. Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin said it was able to resume scheduling abortions as of noon on Monday because it no longer fits the definition of a “prohibited entity” under the new federal law that took effect this month and can receive Medicaid funds … Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin serves about 50,000 people, and about 60% of them are covered by Medicaid, the organization said.
ICYMI: In Case You Missed It
"We know a great deal about the solutions that can improve women’s lives…Yet, the current administration and Congress are taking us in the wrong direction." President @jocelyncfrye pic.twitter.com/7DAja0h1gV
— National Partnership (@NPWF) October 28, 2025
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Note: The information contained in this publication reflects media coverage of women’s health issues and does not necessarily reflect the views of the National Partnership for Women & Families.
