Selena Simmons-Duffin
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Based on a Department of Justice memo, the VA confirmed to NPR it has put in place a new policy this week where abortion and abortion counseling is banned except as, quote, life-saving treatment.
That's a reversal of a policy during the Biden administration that allowed access in cases of rape and health risks.
Kayla Williams is an Army veteran and the former director of the Center for Women Veterans at VA.
She also notes that women veterans are at increased risk of PTSD, which can cause worse pregnancy outcomes.
Selina Simmons-Duffin, NPR News.
AAP represents 67,000 pediatricians across the country.
The organization has pushed back forcefully against the vaccine recommendations implemented by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a longtime anti-vaccine activist.
In the lawsuit, AAP says the Department of Health and Human Services retaliated against their organization because of that public criticism.
The millions in canceled grants supported work on sudden infant death prevention, rural health, early detection of birth defects, and more.
The lawsuit was filed in federal district court in Washington, D.C., and says that without court intervention, these programs will end within weeks.
HHS did not respond to NPR's request for comment.
Selena Simmons-Duffin, NPR News.
One rule says doctors and hospitals cannot get reimbursed by Medicaid for gender-affirming care for youth under age 18.
The other is even more sweeping.
It says hospitals that provide this care would be cut off from all Medicare or Medicaid funding for everything.
And because federal funding represents so much of hospital budgets, that rule could shut down all gender-affirming care for youth at hospitals.
The most significant actions are two proposed rules from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, led by Dr. Mehmet Oz.
One rule says doctors and hospitals cannot get reimbursed by Medicaid for gender-affirming care for youth.
It says hospitals that provide the care would be cut off from all Medicare or Medicaid funding for everything.