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Pregnant veterans would no longer be allowed to receive abortions at Department of Veterans Affairs hospitals in cases of rape, incest or when the pregnancy threatens their health under a proposed rule from the Trump administration that would revoke a Biden-era policy expanding abortion access. Months after the Supreme Court ended the constitutional right to an abortion in 2022, the Biden administration implemented a rule change allowing VA for the first time to provide abortion services for veterans and eligible family members in limited circumstances, including in states with abortion bans. (Somasundaram, 8/4)

Federal judges in Colorado issued a pair of rulings on state abortion laws last week that could have national consequences, reinforcing the state’s burgeoning status as a battleground over abortion access. (Paul, 8/5)

A new peer-reviewed study shows Idaho lost a net 35% of its obstetrician-gynecologist physicians between the implementation of Idaho’s numerous strict abortion bans in 2022 and December of 2024. While Idaho recruited 20 obstetric physicians in that time frame, another 114 of 268 physicians stopped practicing obstetrics, left the state, closed their practices within the state, or retired. The study was conducted by Idaho-based researchers and led by Dr. Edward McEachern. (Sun, 8/3)

Planned Parenthood of Greater Ohio is reducing its workforce after losing more than $10 million in federal funding, the organization announced. The healthcare provider said it’s cutting staff positions after losing Title X funding and facing projected Medicaid losses. Without the workforce reduction, the organization could cease to exist, officials said. (McGowan, 8/4)

The White House does not plan to require health insurers to provide coverage for in vitro fertilization services, two people with knowledge of internal discussions said, even though the idea was one of President Donald Trump’s key campaign pledges. Last year, Trump said that if he returned to office, the government would either pay for IVF services or issue rules requiring insurance companies to cover treatment for it. The pledge came as Trump faced political blowback over abortion rights after his appointees to the Supreme Court helped overturn Roe v. Wade. (Beggin and Stein, 8/3)

A new legislative push that started in Arkansas is taking root at the national level — and could change the face of infertility care in the United States. The Arkansas law, passed in June, requires state insurance companies to cover so-called restorative reproductive medicine (RRM) treatments. It’s the first piece of legislation in the country to endorse a new approach to treating infertility that aims to “restore” women’s ability to conceive through natural methods. (Paulus, 8/5)

More than half of new mothers in the U.S. are missing critical postpartum checkups, new data shows. Postpartum visits save lives. The risk to maternal health doesn't end after an initial postpartum appointment: A recent JAMA Network Open study found that nearly one-third of pregnancy-related deaths in the U.S. occurred six weeks to one year postpartum. (Mallenbaum, 8/4)

The Gates Foundation said Monday that it would commit $2.5 billion through 2030 to support dozens of different approaches for improving women’s health, from new medicines to prevent maternal mortality to vaccines to curb infections that disproportionately affect women. (Herper, 8/4)

Texas Democrats fled the state over the weekend to stop a Republican proposal redrawing the state’s congressional maps. But their exit has also temporarily halted other conservative priorities for the special session — including new abortion restrictions and a “bathroom bill” that would ban transgender people from using public restrooms that match their gender. (Luthra, 8/4)

U.S. delegates have objected to use of the word “gender” in U.N. documents during forums on topics as varied as women’s rights, science and technology, global health, toxic pollution and chemical waste. (Song, 8/5)