A week before Mother’s Day, providers, advocates, and mothers gathered on the National Mall to call for policy and practice changes to reduce the US’s shameful maternal mortality statistics.
Recent pieces address how a pharmaceutical company pushed risky pain drugs, FEMA’s failures in Puerto Rico, what cuts to food stamps mean for rural communities, and more.
Last week, EPA administrator Scott Pruitt announced a proposed rule that would dramatically shrink the pool of high-quality evidence EPA can use in regulations. Pruitt claims the rule will advance transparency, but it will really just make it harder to protect public health.
Research shows that legal abortions are safe and effective — and that state laws restricting them diminish the quality of abortion care.
Public Health Practice
Worth reading: A weaponized census, legitimate science, and blame-the-mother stories
Recent pieces address the addition of a citizenship question to the 2020 Census, Pruitt’s attempt to restrict EPA’s use of science, police shootings of unarmed black men, and more.
NIH’s National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) has funded a randomized trial comparing moderate alcohol consumption and abstention — but most of the money for the study is from the alcohol industry. Recent revelations about early communications between scientists and beverage companies make it harder to have full confidence in the study’s eventual findings.
U.S. Representative Louise Slaughter has died at age 88, after three decades of fighting for women’s rights and public health in Congress.
In addition to a problematic funding announcement, the Title X program faces grantee selection from an abstinence-only advocate and the threat of elimination from House Republicans.
Gun Control/Violence
Worth reading: US gun violence, environmental racism, and attempts to rebrand “abstinence only”
Recent pieces address the Parkland shooting and US gun violence in general; what the Trump budget would mean for US pandemic response; a new EPA report demonstrating environmental racism; Trump administration attempts to rebrand “abstinence-only” education; and more.
Scientific Integrity & Ethics
Advice for federal employees and contractors: Take notes and draw lines
Advice from a long-time public servant and a new guide from nonprofit groups encourage federal employees to take notes about things that concern them.