After decades of steady improvement, the death rate of America’s children and teens shot up between 2019 and 2021 — and gun-related deaths represented the largest share of the increase — by far. Read more»

In response to a yearslong decline in the mental health of the nation’s children and teens, officials are using COVID-19 relief dollars and their own money to build support services to recognize the symptoms of mental illness and help students who are struggling. Read more»

A federal judge in Texas soon could make one of the two pills used in medication abortions harder to come by, even in blue states that support abortion rights - though Arizona and many other states are trying to ensure continued access to the drugs. Read more»

Medication abortion has become more common since the Supreme Court overturned the federal right to abortion this summer - but in federal courts and state legislatures, abortion opponents are trying to limit the use of abortion-inducing pills. Read more»

The percentage of U.S. children entering kindergarten with their required immunizations fell to 93% in the 2021-22 school year, 2 percentage points below recommended herd immunity levels of 95% and lower than vaccination rates in 2020-21. Read more»

Federal government and some states are redoubling efforts to curb the epidemic of overdoses from opioid painkillers, heroin and fentanyl by making medication-assisted treatment more accessible to the estimated 9.5 million people with an opioid use disorder. Read more»

Last year, 109,000 people died from a drug overdose, more than double the number in 2015, and though medical professionals have long argued that buprenorphine should be available in every emergency room in the country, adoption of the practice has been sluggish. Read more»

Encouraged by six victories — and zero defeats — in this month’s midterm elections, abortion rights advocates are considering another round of ballot measures in 2024 that would enshrine reproductive freedom in state constitutions. Read more»

The candidates and ballot measures that triumphed in the midterm elections prove that millions of voters are most energized by abortion access — not worries about inflation or crime - a lesson that both sides of the abortion debate will take into 2024. Read more»

Several major corporations are promising to pay travel expenses for employees who must leave their home states to receive a legal abortion, but these promises to invest in employee access to reproductive health care are fraught with risk, including potential retaliation by state officials. Read more»

Arizona and at least 16 other states have restrictions barring abortion clinics from receiving public contraception funds - though 1 in 3 low-income people who use contraception rely on Planned Parenthood or other publicly funded clinics to pay for the often-costly pills or devices. Read more»

A federal-state health care program for pregnant women is gaining momentum in a post-Roe America as 25 states have extended postpartum Medicaid coverage from two months to a full year after childbirth and eight additional states - including Arizona - have applications pending. Read more»

Conflicting court decisions over state abortion laws and EMTALA - a federal law requiring hospitals and physicians to protect the health of all patients who enter an emergency room or labor and delivery department - could pave the way for a slew of new battles over medical treatment. Read more»

The victory for abortion rights in a Kansas primary this month was the first direct expression of voter sentiment since the Supreme Court overturned the right to abortion - but experts on both sides remain circumspect about what the vote may mean for the future. Read more»

Receiving abortion medications through the mail after consulting with a physician is a gray area of the law that may take years of legal battles to resolve as it will be difficult to prove in courts that the FDA approval preempts state abortion bans, Read more»