Bioethics Round-Up: July 2025

What I'm reading, watching and loving

Hello, my Curious Readers,

Here’s what I’m reading, watching, and loving this week. I hope you do too.

Reading

Abortion

1. Blood Transfusions for Texas Miscarriages Increased by Over 50% by

   Jessica Valenti

   • Dear reader, blood transfusions are not benign. This degree of increase in transfusions is an indicator of how far we are from providing high-quality care to these patients.

2. People in states with abortion bans are twice as likely to die during pregnancy by Shefali Luthra

3. Nearly 1 in 4 out-of-state abortion patients come to Illinois, new report finds by Kaitlin Washburn

   1. Data used in this article is sourced from Stability in the Number of Abortions from 2023 to 2024 in US States Without Total Bans Masks Major Shifts in Access by Isaac Maddow-Zimet and Kimya Forouzan

4. Conservatives Think This Study Will Kill Abortion Pills by Jessica Valenti

American Federal Budget Cuts

1. The Cruelty of the OMB Budget Proposal: An Advocacy Guide for Public Health by Thomas Farley

2. Death By A Thousand Budget Cuts: From cancer screening to outbreak response, programs saving millions of lives are being eliminated, and your community will pay the price at

   Unbiased Science

3. This list of terminated USAID awards should break your heart. New study finds cuts will cause 14 million deaths by 2030 from

   Jeremy Faust, MD
   at Inside Medicine.

4. Scientists fear Trump administration cuts to NIH could impact the health of Americans for generations by Sharyn Alfonsi

5. Fired, rehired, and fired again: Some federal workers find they’re suddenly uninsured by Andrea Hsu

Public Health

1. USA FDA asks Novavax to complete new clinical trial for delayed COVID-19 shot, WSJ reports by Reuters

2. With Sadness and Resolve: Why I Resigned as Chief Medical Officer of an NIH Institute and What Comes Next by Joshua P Fessel

3. No, RFK Jr., Autism Doesn’t Need a Cure by Gisselle Ramirez

Knowledge Accessibility

1. NIH Public Access Policy Now Mandates Zero Embargo Effective July 1, 2025 by the CITI Program Staff

2. Book bans aren’t stopping at libraries — now Texas is targeting bookstores by Brammhi Balarajan

Health Conspiracies, Influencers, Misinformation

1. Marianna in Conspiracyland Podcast (ok so this is listening, but whatever)

2. 15 million Americans take supplements that may be toxic to the liver by Sam Page

Watching

1. Judith Butler on the beginning of feminism

2. RFK Jr. & HHS: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO). RFK Jr is a nightmare for American health. John Oliver does his thing in this video.

Loving

1. Don’t Normalize My Little Girl’s Pain

smallachievablegoals

A post shared by @smallachievablegoals

2. PhD Timeline from xkcd.com. I hate the reality that led to this cartoon, but I do love how cartoonists use their brilliance to make us look at what is uncomfortable in a new light.

   

3. Quilters are stepping up their game. I love crafting and am forever impressed by the complicated art folks make from colorful scraps of fabric. This is pretty incredible.

What are you reading, watching, and loving this week? Drop it in the comments.