ALSO IN THIS POST…
Why pregnant women should know more about aspirin
Arizona repeals a 1864 abortion law
Latest on WOMEN MONEY POWER
At least in the U.S., the U.K. and a slew of other countries, it seems hard at the moment to avoid the ugly glare of Donald Trump’s trial. News stands are dominated by it. Broadcasters can’t get enough. (I’ve was even on BBC Radio Scotland last week talking about it).
The 45th president of America is accused by the Manhattan district attorney’s office of falsifying official records to hide a sex scandal. In case you need a refresher: He’s the first ever former U.S. president to be criminally prosecuted and faces 34 felony counts directly related to his role in hush money payments to the acclaimed actor and director Stormy Daniels—a woman who’s mostly referred to, simply, as a porn star.
With only very few exceptions, Trump has—over the last decade or so—been a mainstay of the news cycle. We’ve collectively shrieked with disbelief at his barefaced lies. We’ve been rendered speechless by the unapologetic misogyny of his unscripted but entirely intentionally jibes—at his recorded brags about grabbing women by the genitals. And we’ve guffawed (because the only alternative is to cry) at the sheer outlandishness of the situation we’re in: a world in which debates about whether a U.S. president can pardon himself from prison are not only legitimate, but actually entirely necessary.
I’m profoundly concerned about what might happen next. But amid all of my worries, there’s one that relates to the theatrics of it all. When something so ludicrous is happening that it reminds us more of fiction than anything else, might we run the risk of downplaying the likelihood of it continuing and reaching its dystopian, misogyny-infused conclusion? Might we actually be underestimating the real risks of Trump winning a second term because that scenario is simply too painful to conceptualize? The human body is capable of remarkable defense mechanisms.
For The Persistent (to which you should consider subscribing!), I wrote a piece on exactly this topic. I pose the question of whether we’re actually fully aware of what might be about to happen and the potential repercussions of another Trump term that could last far longer than the next four years.
The Aspirin Knowledge Gap
I was struck last week by a piece I stumbled across in the New York Times about the potential benefits for pregnant women of taking low-dose aspirin.
Roni Caryn Rabin writes that research shows that pregnant women at risk of developing pre-eclampsia—a life-threatening high blood pressure— could reduce that risk by taking the simple over-the-counter pill. The research is so compelling, in fact, that the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, an influential panel of experts responsible for issuing national guidance, has for an entire decade been recommending that women who are at risk for pre-eclampsia start taking low-dose aspirin (or “baby aspirin”) when they are at the end of their first trimester, or about 12 weeks pregnant.
Both the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine have supported this recommendation, which is great news. The only problem? The message hasn’t been passed on to those who actually need to hear it most.
Here’s what Roni Caryn Rabin writes for The Times:
“Despite all the data, too few pregnant women at risk are taking baby aspirin, and too few doctors recommend it. A 2022 study found that Black women are less likely to be told to take baby aspirin, even when they meet the criteria.
“Pre-eclampsia itself is far from a household term: One in five families, and one in four Black families, has never heard of it, according to a new survey conducted by the Harris Poll for the March of Dimes.
“In addition, only about one in five families surveyed said they were familiar with interventions like baby aspirin.”
Of course this is yet another example of the egregious gender education and awareness gap in health care. As I’ve written before, research shows that women who are in pain are much more likely than men to receive prescriptions for sedatives, rather than for pain medication. Indeed, there’s a whole, grim library-worth of research showing that women are taken less seriously than men when they raise issues or concerns about their health.
One particularly astonishing example is a study from 2000 showing that women are seven times more likely than men to be misdiagnosed and discharged in the middle of having a heart attack. Women suffer altogether different symptoms than men when they’re having a heart attack, and diagnostic standards are still overwhelmingly based on the male physiology.
A lot of the bias in medicine—the dominance of default man, you might call it—will likely take a very long time to fix. But here’s an example of a problem that can actually be addressed quickly and cheaply.
As Rabin report, The March of Dimes, a non-profit which fights for the health of mothers and babies, on Wednesday launched a campaign called “Low Dose, Big Benefits,” to raise awareness of the benefits of low-dose aspirin. This is tremendous news. But we should all still pass on the message. It could save lives.
1864 No More
Elsewhere, in Arizona last week, a much-needed win for the pro-choice movement: an abortion ban that dates back to 1864 (which was before Arizona even became a state) was repealed after two Republicans in the state senate crossed party lines to vote it down.
Early last month, the Supreme Court in Arizona had ruled that the law—which almost entirely bans abortions and punishes doctors who perform them with prison time—overruled a law from 2022 that limits terminations performed after 15 weeks of pregnancy.
That decision caused outrage, including among Democratic lawmakers, and on April 24, Arizona’s House of Representatives voted to repeal the law. On Wednesday last week it passed in the Senate. On Thursday, Democratic Governor Katie Hobbs signed it.
Despite the success that this constitutes for abortion advocates, it’s worth noting that the situation in the state does not mean that abortion access is uncomplicated. As reporters for The 19th* write, “Repealing the 1864 law means that the 15-week law, which permits elective abortions up to its gestational deadline, will take effect instead.” They also note that the 1864 law is likely to remain in place for some time. Bills that are passed do not go into effect until 90 days after the legislative session ends. “But, with budget negotiations still in the beginning stages, that isn’t expected to occur for several more weeks, pushing the repeal’s effectiveness date into August at the earliest—months after the law is actually set to be revived,” they write.
Governor Hobbs in a statement also sounded hopefully but tempered her optimism. “I will never stop fighting to protect reproductive freedom. Arizona women should not have to live in a state where politicians make decisions that should be between a woman and her doctor,” she said. “While this repeal is essential for protecting women’s lives, it is just the beginning of our fight to protect reproductive healthcare in Arizona.”
I’ve written this time and time again, but it bears repeating. Many studies show that access to abortion directly increases women’s participation in the labor market and this is especially true for Black women.
According to The Center for American Progress, an independent nonpartisan policy institute, “the pre-Roe repeal of restrictive abortion laws between 1969 and 1972 increased the labor force participation of Black women by about 6 percentage points.” And to put that into context: a 6 percentage-point increase in the labor force participation rate of Black women aged 20 or over would equate to an increase of about 1 million women in the labor force.
WOMEN MONEY POWER: The Book
And finally, as usual, a quick look back on what’s been going on in book land.
I recently had the pleasure of doing a book talk at an event jointly hosted by the Atlantic Council and ABANA to celebrate and support budding entrepreneurs from the Middle East.
We had a really important conversation and I was particularly inspired by the stories that the women entrepreneurs shared about the challenges they’d overcome in order to pursue their professional passion.
I’ve got a few more book events coming up this month and it would be great to see you there. I’ll be speaking at Worth Magazine’s Groundbreaking Women Summit at the offices of SAP in Hudson Yards on May 9. You can register here. I’ll also be doing a talk at the United Nations Association of New York. That’s happening at Steelcase near Columbus Circle on May 23 from 6pm. You can buy tickets here.
On Saturday, I popped into the Corner Bookstore in Carnegie Hill to sign some books. So if you live in New York and really want a signed copy, you know where to go. A few signed copies should also still be on the shelves at Barnes & Noble on Broadway and 82nd Street!
One final, shameless request. If you’ve read the book, I would massively appreciate it if you could take just thirty seconds to post a review on Amazon using this link. If Goodreads is your jam, that’s just as great and you can leave a review it here. Thank you so much for your support, as ever!