WRDI Watch
If you've followed WRDI for a while, you know we talk a lot about access. Earlier this year, I wrote about the difference between having a right on …
As of September — Access to women’s healthcare continues to vary by location, provider availability, insurance coverage, and funding. A new March of Dimes report finds that one in three U.S. counties is a maternity care desert, while hospital closures and obstetric workforce shortages continue to reduce access. Federal Medicaid cuts and other program changes are expected to reduce funding and access to coverage, even as some states expand women’s health services and protections.
Birth control remains legal across the United States. But new data show that for millions of women, getting it may depend heavily on where they live. New county-level maps …
The recent declaration of a mistrial in the case of Lindsay Clancy, the former labor-and-delivery nurse who strangled her three young children in 2023, has pushed postpartum mental …
If you've assumed birth control is simply “free” because of the Affordable Care Act, you're only partly right. Since 2012, the federal law has required most …
For decades, menopause was treated as a private inconvenience, as something women managed quietly, insurers ignored, with little expectation of medical help or workplace acknowledgment. That is finally changing, and …
Project 2025 is a long-term policy blueprint created by a group of conservative organizations and led by the Heritage Foundation, a Washington-based think tank. Released ahead of the …
A maternal care desert is a place where people who are pregnant or giving birth have a hard time getting maternity care. Sometimes there’s no hospital nearby that delivers …
Federal laws play a powerful role in shaping women’s rights in the United States. Even when enforcement and impact vary from place to place, these laws establish national standards …
Birth control remains legal across the United States. But new data show that for millions of women, getting it may depend heavily on where they live. New county-level maps …
The recent declaration of a mistrial in the case of Lindsay Clancy, the former labor-and-delivery nurse who strangled her three young children in 2023, has pushed postpartum mental …
If you've assumed birth control is simply “free” because of the Affordable Care Act, you're only partly right. Since 2012, the federal law has required most …
For decades, a federal law called EMTALA has guaranteed one basic promise: if you show up at a U.S. emergency room in crisis, the hospital is required to screen …
When states pass menopause insurance mandates, the headlines usually focus on private health plans. But roughly one in five American women between 50 and 64 rely on Medicaid, and until …
If you live in New Jersey, your health insurer is now required by law to cover hormone therapy, pelvic floor physical therapy, bone density screenings, and mental health care related …
For decades, menopause was treated as a private inconvenience, as something women managed quietly, insurers ignored, with little expectation of medical help or workplace acknowledgment. That is finally changing, and …
The 2025 federal spending bill (OBBBA Act) blocked Medicaid reimbursements for Planned Parenthood and some other large reproductive health providers for one year, triggering lawsuits and emergency funding responses from …
Illinois has become the country’s most important access point for abortion care, especially since the 2022 overturning of Roe v. Wade. Surrounded by states with strict limits or total …
Maternal health outcomes in Illinois reflect a mix of strong protections, expanded access, and persistent gaps in care. While the state has taken steps to improve coverage and support services, …
Florida has been at the center of policy changes affecting women’s health and rights. In 2024, the state implemented a six-week abortion ban after the Florida Supreme Court …
Two recent federal developments are drawing new attention to medication abortion, which is now used in more than half of all abortions in the United States. On May 1, a …