Jacobs in the News

Vice President Pence's coronavirus task force is largely composed of men. Susan Wood explained to Lena Felton that male-dominated emergency response efforts can do a poor job of addressing women's health needs--and there are plenty of well-qualified women in the public health field who could participate in such efforts.

Jessica Washington of Mother Jones tried to buy over-the-counter emergency contraception and encountered barriers in several different pharmacies. She spoke with Susan Wood about why the Bush and Obama administrations didn't immediately make warranted changes to improve accessibility, and Wood told her the reasons weren't based on science.

Private foundations are funding much of the U.S. work to improve access to contraception. “The ideal solution is for the federal government to fund accessible high-quality voluntary family planning for anyone who wants it,” Liz Borkowski told Vox reporter Kelsey Piper. “Obviously, this is not what we’re seeing.”

The Jacobs Institute was one of nearly 80 organizations endorsing "The Blueprint for Sexual and Reproductive Health, Rights and Justice," which establishes five key principles and many policy goals. "The blueprint is significant, and unprecedented, because it marks the first time the wide range of reproductive health, justice and rights organizations have come together to develop a detailed and intersectional policy agenda," explains In Our Own Voice: National Black Women's Reproductive Justice Agenda.

A "disease awareness" campaign by Sprout Pharmaceuticals directs users to the drug Addyi. “This particular product should not have been approved by FDA, but it was, and it is not a product that adds value to women’s lives,” Susan Wood told Rachel Bluth of Kaiser Health News.

In a column about her experience advocating for better breastfeeding conditions at her workplace, Christine Michel Carter references a study published in Women's Health Issues. It found that only 40% of working mothers of infants reported having access to both a private place and break time to express breast milk. 

The Jacobs Institute is one of several organizations supporting the Scientific Integrity Act, introduced by Senator Brian Schatz and Rep. Paul Tonko. Susan Wood said: "Given recent instances where ideology has seemingly supplanted science around women's health, we applaud this bill for promoting the role of science to guide policy decisions on public health."

A new service called Aid Access is providing prescription abortion drugs by mail order in the U.S., in a model FDA claims circumvents important safeguards for the drug mifepristone. But, Susan Wood told Marie McCullough, the purported safeguards are excessive and not supported by evidence.

Arizona Republican Martha McSally is running to represent Arizona in the U.S. Senate, and she backed a bill that would make it easier to buy contraceptive drugs without a prescription. Some have claimed the bill could undermine coverage that currently exists under the Affordable Care Act. "On the surface it appears to be expanding access," Susan Wood told Miriam Valverde. "But unless you solve the cost problem for insured people, you are in fact reducing access."