A Very Bad Year for Women’s Health

A look back at a year’s worth of reporting on the depth of damage this administration has wreaked on women’s health.

When I started writing for The Contrarian, a funny-not-funny inside joke was whether there would be enough fodder for a weekly democracy column that overtly centers gender. I think you already know the punchline. Suffice it to say, I did not miss a single Wednesday in all of 2025.

For my final entry of the year, we thought it worthwhile to offer a snapshot—a year’s worth of reporting on the depth of damage this administration has wreaked on women’s health, with real-time Contrarian reporting noted.

Photo by Aiden Frazier on Unsplash

Let’s start with abortion. As attacks have grown more brazen from the federal government—and against the backdrop of 41 states that now restrict abortion, 13 of which have a total ban—the number of abortions reported this year, particularly through medication, is higher than in 2022, the year the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. (Contrarian columns: The State of reproductive rights is dire, May 21; Don’t be fooled: A national abortion ban is still the GOP goal, July 2; The degradation of abortion and democracy go hand in hand, July 30.)

On the one hand, this should not be a surprise. In particular, the combination of widespread access to telehealth, the availability of abortion pills, and state shield laws that enable doctors to prescribe them is indeed a game-changer. But this hardly means that all people who need an abortion are able to get one. For those who choose in-person care, travel costs and delays have increased exponentially according to a study published by the American Journal of Public Health. (Contrarian column: Yes, we still need to protect mifepristone, Oct. 8.)

The new norm of chaos in the federal government has been singularly destructive: The scrubbing from public websites of vital information, banning words like “gender” and “women’s health.” Burning (quite literally) U.S. AID-purchased contraceptives. Dismantling Title X, defunding Planned Parenthood, decimating Medicaid. Reinstating the global gag rule. Pressuring agencies to undermine the safety record of mifepristone, from the Food and Drug Administration to the Environmental Protection Agency. All of this has not only happened this year, but is being reinforced at the state level. States that already ban abortion are doubling down to curb access to telehealth, punish providers, and target abortion funds and the community networks and individuals who help patients access care. (Contrarian columns: Public health websites are going dark, Feb. 6; Tennessee opens a new front in its unrelenting attacks on bodily autonomy, July 23; Setting fire to women’s health, Aug. 13; Texas loves its bounty hunters and hates its women, Sept. 3.)

Of course, the end game for Republicans has always been power and control, rolling back rights and freedoms. Which is why and how we are now experiencing next-level enforcement—in the form of escalating criminalization, prosecutions and surveillance of pregnancy outcomes, attempts to ban interstate travel, and growing reliance on charges of child endangerment, homicide, or “abuse of a corpse” statutes in the context of pregnancy. (Contrarian column: The continued weaponization of pregnancy, Oct. 1.)

The toll extends far beyond those in need of reproductive care. Medical deserts, especially in southern and rural states, are cropping up fast thanks to the proliferation of restrictive abortion laws—which are well documented to be a barrier for providers from choosing to practice medicine or do a residency. Ask yourself, would you choose to train and practice in a state that not only restricts your ability to do your job and opens you up to civil and criminal penalties but also limits your and your family’s ability to access care? (Contrarian column: A warning bell for all women in America, July 9.)

Dead women and babies are the price we are paying. The United States has the highest maternal mortality rate of any wealthy country, almost twice the average maternal mortality rate for countries with comparable economies. As rates continue to drop worldwide, they climb higher here, with Black women more than three times more likely than white women to die in childbirth. Infant mortality has risen specifically in states that enacted abortion restrictions since 2022, again with impacts worse among Black infants. (Contrarian columns: The state of women’s health three years after Dobbs, June 25.)

Even so, President Donald Trump has tried to convince the public he’s a pro-family, pro-natalist kind of guy—the “father of in vitro fertilization” committed to minting “Trump babies” and making the path to parenthood more affordable. But his IVF executive order and subsequent policy proposals are weak at best and meaningless for most. In any event, his own willingness to let children go hungry by withholding food assistance during the longest federal government shutdown ever made clear his true spirit. (Contrarian columns: Trump’s executive order on IVF is full of red flags, Feb. 26); F is for fertilization (and fool). April 1; Trump wants a baby boom, April 30; Despite Trump’s pledge, IVF will remain out of reach for many, Oct. 22; The Trump regime is turning its back on more than 40 million hungry Americans, Oct. 29.)

Last but not least, women’s midlife health and menopause was a story this year—one where progress has been possible. More than 20 state and municipal legislatures took up an array of proposals to make menopause treatments more affordable and accessible, incentivize better education for providers, and offer stronger workplace protections. It is a distinctly bipartisan and relatively uncontroversial (for now) agenda. Last month, the FDA scrapped outdated and inaccurate warning labels on menopause hormone treatments. All of these are long overdue reforms. Trust me, I would never pinkwash this administration or back commentary by health agency leaders that they’ve got women’s best interest at heart. But I accept a win when I see it. A stopped clock can be right twice a day. (Contrarian columns: The fight for midlife and menopausal health is essential to reproductive rights, Jan. 28; Menopause finally gets a seat at the table, July 16; Celebrate the menopause treatment news, Nov. 12.)

Whew! That’s a wrap, Contrarians! Wishing you a restorative and joyful holiday. See you in January.

Jennifer Weiss-Wolf is executive director of the Birnbaum Women’s Leadership Center at NYU School of Law. She also leads strategy and partnerships at Ms. Magazine.

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