End the Assault on Women's Health

Scientific American

Republican efforts to dismantle U.S. health care unfairly target one gender

Introduction

CREDIT: Wenjia Tang

By the Editors

There's something rotten in the state of women's health. As this article is being written in July, Republicans in Congress are engaged in a frenzied effort to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act (ACA) put in place by the Obama administration. At least 22 million Americans would lose medical insurance by 2026 under the latest version of this plan—which includes large cuts to Medicaid—and lack of insurance means more sickness and death for thousands, data show. These cuts threaten to affect women more than men—whether by removing basic health coverage, cutting maternity care or sharply limiting reproductive rights.

It's time to take a stand against this war on women's health.

Current events are just the latest insult in a long history of male-centric medicine, often driven not by politicians but by scientists and physicians.

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Trump Gives Mattis Wide Discretion Over Transgender Ban

WASHINGTON — President Trump signed a long-awaited directive on Friday that precludes transgender individuals from joining the military but gives Defense Secretary Jim Mattis wide discretion in determining whether those already in the armed forces can continue to serve.

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Mr. Trump abruptly announced the ban last month, helping to resolve a fight in Congress over whether taxpayer dollars should be used for gender transition and hormone therapy for transgender service members. Objections from conservatives had threatened a $790 billion defense and security spending package.

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The Worst (and Best) Places to Be Gay in America

All my life I’ve loved Texas: those big skies, big steaks and big attitudes. I’m there several times a year.

But Texas doesn’t love me back. Certainly its lawmakers don’t, and lately they’ve been hellbent on showing that.

In June the governor signed a bill allowing child welfare groups to refuse adoptions that contradict their “sincerely held religious beliefs.” They can turn away gay men like me.

That same month, the Texas Supreme Court approved a lawsuit challenging the city of Houston’s provision of equal benefits to all married employees, including those with same-sex spouses. Although the United States Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage nationwide in 2015, Texas bucks and balks.

Not New York. My state loves me something fierce. What it did in June was finalize the design of a monument to L.G.B.T. citizens in downtown Manhattan. New York legalized same-sex marriage back in 2011 without any federal nudge.

There’s no such thing as L.G.B.T. life in America, a country even more divided on this front than on others. There’s L.G.B.T. life in a group of essentially progressive places like New York, Maryland, Oregon and California, which bans government-funded travel to states it deems unduly discriminatory. Then there is L.G.B.T. life on that blacklist, which includes Texas, Kansas, Mississippi and South Dakota.

States with Pro-L.G.B.T. Laws

NUMBER OF POSITIVE LAWS

0

52

States with Anti-L.G.B.T. Laws

NUMBER OF NEGATIVE LAWS

0

6

Source: Human Rights Campaign

The differences between states — and between cities within states — are profound, and while that has long been true, it’s much more consequential since the advent of the Trump administration, a decidedly less ready ally of L.G.B.T. people than the Obama administration was.

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