Viewpoints: Abortion Exceptions Aren’t Worth The Paper They’re Printed On; We Need Better Ways To Regulate PFAS
Editorial writers tackle consequences of overturning Roe, the plague of "forever chemicals," and more.
Complaints that pregnant women were turned away from U.S. emergency rooms spiked in 2022 after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, federal documents obtained by The Associated Press reveal. (Jamelle Bouie, 4/20)
The environmental violence exacted by PFAS, like the effects of radiation and polychlorinated biphenyls, or PCBs, can be difficult to prove. Only a few studies have examined the relationship between PFAS exposure and colorectal cancer (though the Yale School of Public Health has estimated that around 80 percent of cases are linked to environmental exposure). But on April 10 the Environmental Protection Agency announced the first federal mandate to limit the level of six PFAS in tap water. (Kathleen Blackburn, 4/21)
Last month, nearly 40,000 medical students were accepted into residency programs on 鈥淢atch Day.鈥 Surrounded by family and friends, these soon-to-be-physicians opened envelopes revealing where they would begin their careers. This moment marked the culmination of a residency match process that requires medical students to make a series of choices and rankings about which medical specialty to practice and at which health system, along with the various lifestyle factors inherent in such a decision. (Ezekiel J. Emanuel and Matthew Guido, 4/22)
In human biology, the protein dystrophin is a shining example of Joni Mitchell鈥檚 classic line, 鈥測ou don鈥檛 know what you鈥檝e got 鈥檛il it鈥檚 gone.鈥 Dystrophin stabilizes muscle cells. In its absence, the house of cards comes down. For my 6-year-old son, Charlie, dystrophin will govern how long he lives. And how much dystrophin he has in his body depends on the ability of drug developers to continue improving it with innovation. (Jennifer Handt, 4/22)
On a Friday morning one year ago this week, my colleagues in Sudan鈥檚 Ministry of Health and I met for the relatively routine business of endorsing a plan to deal with looming epidemics of cholera, dengue fever, and measles. The next morning, my family and I awoke to gunfire in the streets of the capital, Khartoum; we lived near the headquarters of the Army General Command, where the fighting began, and heard the sound of jet fighters bombing the airport and other targets. Civil war had erupted between the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), a paramilitary group, and the Sudanese army. (Heitham Mohammed Ibrahim Awadalla, 4/21)