Health and Disease

A pregnant woman lies on her bed with monitoring devices placed on her belly at the maternity ward of a hospital in Paris on June 29, 2022.

Giving Birth Almost Killed Me. Pregnancy Shouldn’t Be So Dangerous. Giving Birth Almost Killed Me. Pregnancy Shouldn’t Be So Dangerous.

Every year, tens of thousands of women bleed to death after having a baby. Cuts to aid and attacks on reproductive rights will make postpartum complications even more deadly.

Jun 20, 2025 / Karina Piser

The author, Regina Mahone, left.

Why We Must Keep Talking About Abortion Pills Why We Must Keep Talking About Abortion Pills

As part of a delegation to Brazil, I saw how our countries’ respective struggles to maintain and expand reproductive justice are really part of the same fight.

Jun 16, 2025 / Regina Mahone

Employees and supporters protest outside the headquarters for United States Agency for International Development (USAID), on Monday, February 3, 2025, after Elon Musk posted on social media that he and President Donald Trump would shut down the agency.

President Trump Is Demolishing America’s Global Soft Power President Trump Is Demolishing America’s Global Soft Power

Trump’s sharp cuts to humanitarian aid will ensure that the United States’ soft power crumbles, doing lasting damage to its international standing.

Jun 3, 2025 / Alfred McCoy

Activists outside the office of US Representative Jeff Hurd (R-CO) in response to proposed cuts to Medicaid, on May 21, 2025, in Washington, DC.

Republicans’ “Big Beautiful” Medicaid Cuts Spur Rural Organizing Innovation Republicans’ “Big Beautiful” Medicaid Cuts Spur Rural Organizing Innovation

Taking away healthcare coverage isn’t just “morally wrong and politically suicidal,” in Senator Josh Hawley’s apt phrase. It’s also putting pressure on rural members of Congress.

May 30, 2025 / Erica Etelson

The late Representative Gerry Connolly—in a photograph from 2013.

The Democratic Party Is Literally Dying The Democratic Party Is Literally Dying

The dead hand of gerontocracy is also a symptom of ideological malaise.

May 23, 2025 / Jeet Heer

A woman holds a sign protesting NYC Mayor Eric Adams’s policy on mental health

People Across the Political Spectrum Agree: We Need to Address the Country’s Mental Health Crisis People Across the Political Spectrum Agree: We Need to Address the Country’s Mental Health Crisis

There is surprising agreement among people with divergent political beliefs that it’s time to expand services for those who are struggling.

May 20, 2025 / Mattea Kramer and Dr. Sean Fogler

A memorial for the loss of funding for research and public health programs is placed in front of the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

Disaster Awaits Us if the NIH Dies Disaster Awaits Us if the NIH Dies

We need to be sending more federal research dollars to more people in more places. Instead, the government is doing the opposite.

May 20, 2025 / Abdullah Shihipar, Brandon Marshall, and Alexandra Skinner

Donald Trump, accompanied by National Institutes of Health Director Jayanta Bhattacharya (L), and Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (R), speaks in the Oval Office at the White House on May 5, 2025. in Washington, DC.

Inside the Bloodbath at the NIH Inside the Bloodbath at the NIH

Sources say that a climate of fear has spread throughout the agency as the Trump administration takes a hatchet to its core functions.

May 8, 2025 / Gregg Gonsalves

Voted for Poor Health

Voted for Poor Health Voted for Poor Health

Buyers’ remorse for MAGA?

May 7, 2025 / OppArt / Jesse Duquette

Conspiracy Theorists Are Coming for Your Pet Food

Conspiracy Theorists Are Coming for Your Pet Food Conspiracy Theorists Are Coming for Your Pet Food

You may not think raw food for cats and dogs could be harmful, but new cases suggest these brands and their evangelists could be putting your pets at risk.

Apr 24, 2025 / Emmet Fraizer

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