Reporting on the Supreme CourtThe court has sided with gay and transgender people in recent cases, but there have been dissents.Eric Lee/The New York TimesAt a pair of arguments in 2019 about employment discrimination against gay and transgender workers, the justices could not stop talking about bathrooms. In all, five justices explored questions related to who may use which facilities, though bathrooms did not figure in the cases before them.“Let’s not avoid the difficult issue,” said Justice Sonia Sotomayor, a member of the court’s liberal wing, posing a hypothetical question: “You have a transgender person who rightly is identifying as a woman and wants to use the women’s bathroom.”She added: “There are other women who are made uncomfortable, and not merely uncomfortable, but who would feel intruded upon if someone who still had male characteristics walked into their bathroom. That’s why we have different bathrooms. So the hard question is: How do we deal with that?”David D. Cole, a lawyer with the American Civil Liberties Union representing a transgender woman, seemed puzzled.“That is a question, Justice Sotomayor,” he said. “It is not the question in this case.”The argument also touched on sports, religion and dress codes, and it suggested that many justices found it hard to disentangle the legal question before them from related ones.Justice Neil M. Gorsuch, for instance, asked whether a ruling in favor of Mr. Cole’s client would do away with sex-specific dress codes. Mr. Cole said no.“There are transgender male lawyers in this courtroom following the male dress code and going to the men’s room,” he said, “and the court’s dress code and sex-segregated restrooms have not fallen.”When the court issued its decision, which sided with gay and transgender workers, Justice Gorsuch’s majority opinion said it was tightly focused on employment discrimination.“We do not purport to address bathrooms, locker rooms or anything else of the kind,” he wrote, adding that those “are questions for future cases, not these.”In dissent, Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. chastised the majority for kicking the can down the road.“The court may wish to avoid this subject,” he wrote, “but it is a matter of concern to many people who are reticent about disrobing or using toilet facilities in the presence of individuals whom they regard as members of the opposite sex.”In cases that reached the court on what critics call its shadow docket, the justices have ruled for a transgender prisoner seeking surgery and a transgender girl who sought to compete on the girls’ cross-country and track teams at her middle school in West Virginia. Justice Alito and Clarence Thomas dissented in both cases.Those two justices also dissented in 2021 when the court turned down an appeal from a ruling in favor of a transgender boy in Virginia who wanted to use the boys’ bathroom at his high school.

The unidentified patient had recently returned from Africa, where the virus has caused a deadly epidemic, health officials said.A person in California has tested positive for a form of mpox causing a widespread epidemic in Africa, the state’s Department of Public Health reported on Saturday. It is the first known case in the United States.The individual, who was not identified, had recently returned from East Africa. The patient was diagnosed in San Mateo County, just south of San Francisco, and was isolating at home.Officials at the California Department of Public Health and at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are reaching out to potential contacts of the patient for further testing.There is no evidence that this version of the mpox virus, called Clade Ib, is circulating in communities in the United States, C.D.C. officials said.Infections in people returning from Africa, however, have been found in Germany, Sweden, Thailand and the United Kingdom, among other countries. A case in India was reported in a person returning from the United Arab Emirates.In Germany, Sweden, Thailand and India, the virus was transmitted no farther. In the United Kingdom, the infected individual passed mpox to three household contacts.“The anticipated overall risk of Clade I mpox to the general population in the United States from the outbreak in Central and Eastern Africa is low,” the C.D.C. said in a statement on Saturday.There are two main types of mpox, formerly monkeypox: Clade I and Clade II. A subtype of Clade II caused a global epidemic in 2022, mostly among gay and bisexual men, affecting nearly 100,000 people in 116 countries. About 200 people died.That virus continues to circulate in the United States, but now at lower levels.More recently the Clade Ib subtype has caused enormous misery in the Democratic Republic of Congo, as well as in Burundi, Central African Republic, Republic of Congo, Rwanda and Uganda.There have been more than 57,000 confirmed or suspected cases since January and nearly 1,200 deaths, many of them children. The World Health Organization declared the epidemic a global emergency in August.Until recently, Clade Ib spread mainly through consumption of contaminated meat or close contact with infected animals and people. But last year the virus was discovered to be spreading sexually, often through heterosexual prostitution.Mpox is transmitted through close personal contact. The incubation period is three to 17 days, and the illness usually manifests as a painful rash on the hands, feet, chest, face, anus or genitals.The C.D.C. recommends that all people at risk, including sexually active gay and bisexual men, receive two doses of the Jynneos vaccine.Apoorva Mandavilli

Medicare — the federally funded health care program — has been in place since 1965. Since then, an expanding array of Medicare Advantage plans has become available. In 2024, the typical beneficiary could choose from 36 Advantage plans that included prescription drug coverage; for 2025, they’ll face an average of 34. (A reduction isn’t necessarily bad; too much choice can be paralyzing, research has shown.)Medicare Advantage plans, like traditional Medicare, are funded by the federal government, but they are offered though private insurance companies, which receive a set payment for each enrollee. The idea is to help control costs by allowing these insurers, which must cover the same services as traditional Medicare, to keep some of the federal payment as profit if they can provide care less expensively.The biggest providers of Advantage plans are Humana and UnitedHealthcare; they and other insurers market aggressively to persuade seniors to sign up or switch plans. A Senate report found that some companies’ practices were deceptive; for example, marketing firms have sent Medicare beneficiaries mailers made to look like government websites or letters. Medicare has issued regulations to reduce the confusion. But the marketing blitz has paid off for insurers. The proportion of eligible Medicare beneficiaries enrolled in Medicare Advantage plans has hit 54 percent, an all-time high.Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call, via Associated PressThe programs operate quite differently, and the health and financial consequences can be dramatic. Each has, well, advantages — and disadvantages.Jeannie Fuglesten Biniek, associate director at KFF, the health policy organization formerly known as the Kaiser Family Foundation, is a co-author of a recent literature review comparing Medicare Advantage and traditional Medicare. One important finding, Dr. Fuglesten Biniek said: “Both Medicare Advantage and traditional Medicare beneficiaries reported that they were satisfied with their care — a large majority in both groups.”Advantage plans offer simplicity. “It’s one-stop shopping,” she said. “You get your drug plan included, and you don’t need a separate supplemental policy.” Traditional Medicare beneficiaries often buy such supplemental insurance, known as Medigap policies, to cover out-of-pocket expenses like deductibles and coinsurance.Medicare Advantage may appear cheaper, too, because many plans charge low monthly premiums or none at all. Unlike traditional Medicare, Advantage plans also cap out-of-pocket expenses. Next year, you’ll pay no more than $9,350 in in-network expenses, excluding drugs — or $14,000 with the kind of plan that permits you to also use out-of-network providers at higher costs (called P.P.O.s, or preferred provider organizations).But the majority of Advantage plans don’t allow that choice. “Most plans operate like an H.M.O. — you can only go to contracted providers,” said David Lipschutz, co-director of the Center for Medicare Advocacy.Advantage enrollees may also be drawn to the plan by benefits that traditional Medicare can’t offer. “Vision, dental and hearing are the most popular,” Mr. Lipschutz said. Many plans also include gym memberships, transportation or certain over-the-counter items, though some are now scaling back such extras.“We caution people to look at what the scope of the benefits actually are,” he said. “They can be limited, or not available to everyone in the plan. Dental care might cover one cleaning and that’s it, or it may be broader.” Most Advantage enrollees who use these benefits still wind up paying most dental, vision or hearing costs out-of-pocket. One big disadvantage is that insurers require “prior authorization,” or approval in advance, for many procedures, drugs or facilities.“Your doctor or the facility says that you need more care” — in a hospital or nursing home, perhaps — “but the plan says, ‘No, five days, or a week, two weeks, is fine,’” said David Lipschutz, co-director of the Center for Medicare Advocacy. Then you must either forgo care or pay out-of-pocket.Advantage participants who are denied care can appeal, and in 2022 those who did had their denials reversed 83 percent of the time, according to an analysis by KFF. But only about 10 percent of beneficiaries or providers filed appeals, “which means there’s a lot of necessary care that enrollees are going without,” Mr. Lipschutz said.A report in 2022 by the inspector general’s office of the Department of Health and Human Services determined that 13 percent of services denied by Advantage plans met Medicare coverage rules and would have been approved under traditional Medicare.The Commonwealth Fund reported this year that Advantage enrollees were more likely to experience delays in getting care (22 percent) than those enrolled in traditional Medicare (13 percent), because of Advantage policies requiring prior authorization.And 12 percent of Advantage beneficiaries couldn’t afford care because of co-payments or deductibles, compared with 7 percent of those with traditional Medicare.Advantage plans can also prove problematic if you are traveling or spending part of each year away from home. If you live in Philadelphia but get sick in Florida, for example, all local providers may be out of network. Check to see how the plan you’re using or considering treats such situations.Justin Sullivan/Getty Images“The big pro is that there are no networks,” Jeannie Fuglesten Biniek, associate director at KFF, formerly the Kaiser Family Foundation, said of traditional Medicare. “You can see any doctor that accepts Medicare,” as most do, and use any hospital or clinic. Traditional Medicare beneficiaries also largely avoid the delays and frustrations of prior authorization requirements.But traditional Medicare sets no cap on out-of-pocket expenses, and its 20 percent co-pay can add up quickly for hospitalizations or expensive tests and procedures. So most beneficiaries either buy a supplemental Medigap policy to cover out-of-pocket expenses, or have supplementary coverage through an employer or Medicaid.Medigap policies are not inexpensive; in 2023 they averaged from $191 to $267 a month, KFF reported.A KFF literature review found that traditional Medicare beneficiaries experienced fewer cost problems than did Advantage beneficiaries if they had supplementary Medigap policies. But if they didn’t, Medicare beneficiaries were more likely to report issues like delaying care for cost reasons or having trouble with paying medical bills.Traditional Medicare also provides somewhat better access to high-quality hospitals and nursing homes. David Meyers, a health services researcher at Brown University, and his colleagues have been tracking differences between original Medicare and Medicare Advantage for years, using data from millions of people.The team has found that Advantage beneficiaries are 10 percent less likely to use the highest-quality hospitals, 4 percent to 8 percent less likely to be admitted to the highest-quality nursing homes, and half as likely to use the highest-rated cancer centers for complex cancer surgeries, compared with similar patients in the same counties or ZIP codes.What’s more, some Medicare Advantage plans have narrow provider networks, compared with those available through traditional Medicare, Dr. Meyers and his colleagues have reported.Some Advantage plans offer limited access to primary care doctors and to dialysis centers. Doctors who treat higher numbers of complex patients with greater social and medical risks are less available than through traditional Medicare.Johns Hopkins researchers reported in 2023 that most Advantage plans also offered narrow networks of psychiatrists, enrolling fewer than a quarter of those practicing in a service area.“Providers are starting to push back more on Medicare Advantage plans, and that leads to fewer providers — hospitals, doctors’ groups — willing to contract with Advantage plans,” said David Lipschutz, co-director of the Center for Medicare Advocacy.Generally, patients with high needs — people who were frail, limited in activities of daily living or had chronic conditions — were more apt to switch to traditional Medicare, especially in the final year of life, than those who were not high-need, Dr. Meyers and his colleagues have found.“When you’re healthier, you may run into fewer of the limitations of networks and prior authorization,” he said. “When you have more complex needs, you come up against those more frequently.”Another downside to traditional Medicare, though, is that it does not include drug coverage. For that, you need a separate Part D plan.Kenny Holston for The New York TimesHere’s where major policy shifts affecting Medicare Part D, which covers prescription drugs, make comparison shopping especially important in 2025. Advantage plans usually include drug coverage; in traditional Medicare, you must buy a separate Part D plan. But the changes will affect both.The most evident, through the Biden administration’s Inflation Reduction Act, is a $2,000 cap on out-of-pocket payments. “That’s a pretty big change in the level of financial protection it provides,” said Juliette Cubanski, deputy director of the program on Medicare policy at KFF, formerly the Kaiser Family Foundation.Moreover, the law mandates that after beneficiaries reach the $2,000 cap, insurers must now pay 60 percent of remaining drug costs, up from 20 percent.That means that “plans have stronger incentives to control costs,” Dr. Cubanski said. They are responding in various ways, increasing premiums or deductibles, reducing benefits and changing formularies, the lists of drugs that plans will cover.A few companies have withdrawn from the market entirely. But Medicare protections will keep premiums from skyrocketing, at least for the next few years.In 2024, beneficiaries could typically choose between 21 stand-alone Part D plans, at prices that ranged from $1 to $108 a month and averaged $43 for policies available nationwide, according to KFF analyses. In 2025, there will be 15 in most regions.They typically have a annual deductible, $590 in 2025. You pay that amount out-of-pocket before coverage kicks in.Then, a Part D plan, either stand-alone or as part of a Medicare Advantage plan, usually establishes five tiers of drugs with different coinsurance payments for each, from low-cost generics to brand names to high-priced specialty meds.To keep consumer costs reasonable during this transition, Medicare has started a demonstration program for stand-alone Part D plans. “The maximum premium increase people will see for stand-alone coverage is $35” per month, Dr. Cubanski said. If Medicare hadn’t taken action, “premium increases certainly would have been larger.”Some plans will not increase premiums that much; some will charge less than in 2024. The demonstration program, which nearly all Part D insurers are participating in, will remain in effect through 2027.Comparing plan formularies is always a complicated process. “Plans make choices about which drugs they cover and which they don’t,” Dr. Cubanski said.Different plans cover different drugs (which can change from year to year) and place them in different pricing tiers. To make comparisons more dizzying, certain pharmacy chains are “preferred” by certain plans, so you could pay more at CVS than at Walmart for the same drug, or vice versa.Because of the $2,000 out-of-pocket cap, formularies matter more than ever. Consider the injectable weight-loss medication Wegovy, for instance. “If your plan covers it, you won’t pay more than $2,000” a year, Dr. Cubanski said. “If you’re enrolled in a plan that doesn’t cover that drug, you pay the full out-of-pocket cost,” which could exceed $15,000.Next year will also bring the voluntary Medicare Prescription Payment Plan, offered by all Part D plans. It allows beneficiaries to pay their out-of-pocket drug costs in monthly installments instead of all at once.Part D beneficiaries with diabetes should already be saving money on insulin, since last year Medicare began capping prices at $35 a month. Beneficiaries taking expensive drugs may save more in 2026, because Medicare now negotiates prices with drug makers. It announced negotiated prices for 10 medications starting in 2026, with up to 15 more slated in each of the following two years, and up to 20 annually thereafter — another provision of the Inflation Reduction Act.Most adult vaccines are free for Medicare beneficiaries.You can, but be careful.Switching between Medicare Advantage plans is fairly easy. But switching from traditional Medicare to an Advantage plan can cause a major problem: You relinquish your Medigap policy, if you had one. (Medigap is a separate insurance plan that covers out-of-pocket expenses like deductibles and co-insurance.)Then, if you later become dissatisfied and want to switch back from Advantage to traditional Medicare, you may not be able to replace that policy. With some exceptions, Medigap insurers can deny your application or charge high prices based on factors like pre-existing conditions.“Many people think they can try out Medicare Advantage for a while, but it’s not a two-way street,” said David Lipschutz, co-director of the Center for Medicare Advocacy.Except in four states that guarantee Medigap coverage at set prices — New York, Massachusetts, Connecticut and Maine — “it’s one type of insurance that can discriminate against you based on your health,” he said.Pablo Martinez Monsivais/Associated PressYou will find plenty of information on the Medicare.gov website, including the Part D plan finder, where you can input the drugs you take to see which plan gives you the best, most economical coverage. The toll-free 1-800-MEDICARE number can also assist you.Perhaps the best resources, however, are the federally funded State Health Insurance Assistance Programs, where trained volunteers help consumers assess both Medicare and drug plans.These programs “are unbiased and don’t have a pecuniary interest in your decision making,” said David Lipschutz, co-director of the Center for Medicare Advocacy.But their appointments tend to fill up quickly at this time of year, and the annual open enrollment period ends on Dec. 7. Don’t delay.

The prize was awarded for their discovery of microRNA and its role in post-transcriptional gene regulation. Victor Ambros and Gary Ruvkun were awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine on Monday for the discovery of microRNA and its role in post-transcriptional gene regulation. This is a breaking news story that will be updated. Who won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 2023?Katalin Karikó and Drew Weissman recognized work that led to the development of potent Covid vaccines — that were administered to billions around the world.When will the other Nobel Prizes be announced?The prize for physiology or medicine is the first of six Nobel Prizes that will be awarded this year. Each award recognizes groundbreaking contributions by an individual or organization in a specific field.The Nobel Prize in Physics will be awarded on Tuesday by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences in Stockholm. Last year, Pierre Agostini, Ferenc Krausz and Anne L’Huillier shared the prize for work that let scientists capture the motions of subatomic particles moving at impossible speeds.The Nobel Prize in Chemistry will be awarded on Wednesday by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences in Stockholm. Last year, the prize went to Moungi G. Bawendi, Louis E. Brus and Alexei I. Ekimov for discovering and developing quantum dots that are expected to lead to advances in electronics, solar cells and encrypted quantum information.The Nobel Prize in Literature will be awarded on Thursday by the Swedish Academy in Stockholm. Last year, Jon Fosse of Norway was honored for plays and prose that gave “voice to the unsayable.”The Nobel Peace Prize will be awarded on Friday by the Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo. Last year, Narges Mohammadi, an activist in Iran was recognized “for her fight against the oppression of women in Iran and her fight to promote human rights and freedom for all.” Ms. Mohammadi is serving a 10-year sentence in an Iranian prison where her attorneys have raised concerns about her well-being.Next week, the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences will be awarded on Monday by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences in Stockholm. Last year, Claudia Goldin was awarded for her research uncovering the reasons for gender gaps in labor force participation and earnings.All of the prize announcements are streamed live by the Nobel Prize organization.

By The New York Times

There has long been an effective, F.D.A.-approved treatment for some menopausal symptoms, but too few women have a clear picture of its risks and benefits.“Menopause has the worst P.R. campaign in the history of the universe, because it’s not just hot flashes and night sweats,” says Rachel Rubin, a sexual-health expert and assistant clinical professor in urology at Georgetown University. Menopausal symptoms are more varied, and can be more debilitating, than many people know. During the transition to menopause, women may also experience sleeplessness, mood changes, depression, weight gain, joint pain, vaginal dryness and pain during sex, among other symptoms. Bone loss accelerates. In women who have a genetic risk for Alzheimer’s disease, the first plaques are thought to form in the brain around this time.There has long been an effective, F.D.A.-approved treatment for several of these symptoms, known as menopausal hormone therapy, but because of fear and misinformation, too few women have a clear picture of its risks and benefits. The New York Times Magazine’s cover story this week examines hormone therapy and menopause, unpacking what the research really tells us.Hormone therapy eases several menopausal symptoms and has some additional health benefits.Hormone therapy has been shown to ease hot flashes and sleep disruption, and there is some evidence that it helps with depression and aching joints. It also helps prevent and treat menopausal genitourinary syndrome, a collection of symptoms, including urinary-tract infections and pain during sex, that affect nearly half of postmenopausal women. It decreases the risk of diabetes and protects against osteoporosis. Because of the health risks associated with hormone therapy, it is recommended for women who have “bothersome” hot flashes and certain other menopausal symptoms, not for preventive care.Hormone therapy carries health risks that vary by age.The age at which a woman begins hormone therapy is important for assessing her increased risk of heart disease, stroke and dementia.Your Questions About Menopause, AnsweredCard 1 of 6What are perimenopause and menopause?

The move broadens access to the reformulated shots, but only a small fraction of the country’s youngest children are likely to get one of the new doses in the near future.WASHINGTON — The Food and Drug Administration on Thursday expanded eligibility for the updated coronavirus shots to children as young as 6 months old, the latest step to make the retooled doses available to more Americans.The federal government rolled out the updated boosters from Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna in September, though the public has shown little interest in the new shots. The government expanded eligibility to children as young as 5 in October.The new action by the F.D.A. further expands access to the so-called bivalent shots, though there is unlikely to be strong demand for them among parents. Only a small fraction of the country’s youngest children have been immunized since the original vaccines were authorized for that age group in June.The move comes as coronavirus cases in the United States are on the rise. Young children have also been hit hard in recent months by respiratory syncytial virus, known as R.S.V. Cases have swamped pediatric units across the United States.“More children now have the opportunity to update their protection against Covid-19 with a bivalent Covid-19 vaccine, and we encourage parents and caregivers of those eligible to consider doing so — especially as we head into the holidays and winter months where more time will be spent indoors,” Dr. Robert M. Califf, the F.D.A. commissioner, said in a statement.For the country’s youngest children, eligibility for the updated coronavirus shots will vary depending on which vaccine and how many doses they have received.Children ages 6 months through 5 years who received Moderna’s two-dose vaccine will be eligible for the company’s updated booster two months after finishing their initial vaccination round.Pfizer’s vaccine is given as a three-dose series for children ages 6 months to 4 years. For those children, the third dose in the series will now be the updated shot instead of the original formulation.Young children who have already received all three doses in Pfizer’s series will not yet be eligible for an updated booster. But the F.D.A. said it expected that new data would be available in January concerning the retooled booster for that population, and the agency said it would assess that data “as quickly as possible.”The broadened eligibility for the updated shots still needs to be signed off on by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.The Biden administration has struggled to generate interest in the updated booster shots, which target both the original version of the virus and Omicron subvariants. Only about 13 percent of Americans ages 5 and up have received one of the new doses so far.The F.D.A. authorized the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines for the country’s youngest children in June, a move that came a year and a half after the vaccines were first rolled out for adults.But few young children have been immunized since then. Less than 10 percent of children ages 4 and under have received a vaccine dose so far, and even fewer have completed their full vaccination round.

Alabama

Gov.

Sen.

House

22 weeks

Prohibited

Weeks or months

A judge blocked a total ban on abortion, with no exceptions for rape or incest, but abortion opponents would most likely seek its enforcement if Roe were overturned.

Arkansas

22 weeks

Prohibited

Immediately

A trigger law banning nearly all abortions, with no exceptions for rape or incest, would take effect within days.

Idaho

Viability

Prohibited

Immediately

A trigger law banning nearly all abortions would take effect 30 days after the Supreme Court’s decision.

Kentucky

22 weeks

Prohibited

Immediately

A trigger law banning nearly all abortions, with no exceptions for rape or incest, would take effect immediately.

Louisiana

22 weeks

Prohibited

Immediately

A trigger law banning nearly all abortions, with no exceptions for rape or incest, would take effect immediately.

Mississippi

20 weeks

Prohibited

Immediately

A trigger law banning nearly all abortions would take effect within days.

Missouri

Viability

Prohibited

Immediately

A trigger law banning nearly all abortions, with no exceptions for rape or incest, would take effect within days.

North Dakota

22 weeks

Prohibited

Immediately

A trigger law banning nearly all abortions would take effect 30 days after the Supreme Court’s decision.

Oklahoma

6 weeks

Prohibited

Immediately

A trigger law banning nearly all abortions, with no exceptions for rape or incest, would take effect within days.

South Dakota

22 weeks

Prohibited

Immediately

A trigger law banning nearly all abortions, with no exceptions for rape or incest, would take effect immediately.

Tennessee

20 weeks

Prohibited

Immediately

A trigger law banning nearly all abortions, with no exceptions for rape or incest, would take effect about 30 days after the court overturned Roe.

Texas

6 weeks

Prohibited

Immediately

A trigger law banning nearly all abortions, with no exceptions for rape or incest, would take effect 30 days after the Supreme Court’s decision.

Utah

Viability

Prohibited

Immediately

A trigger law banning nearly all abortions would take effect within days.

West Virginia

22 weeks

Prohibited

Weeks or months

Voters approved an amendment to the state’s Constitution that denies any right to abortion. Lawmakers could use the amendment to enact a total ban.

Wyoming

Viability

Prohibited

Immediately

A trigger law banning nearly all abortions would take effect within 30 days of the Supreme Court’s decision.

Arizona

Viability

Prohibited or restricted

Weeks or months

The state enacted an abortion ban after 15 weeks, with no exceptions for rape or incest, which should take effect in September. It has an inactive ban from before 1973, but the governor has said the 15-week ban would take precedence.

Florida

24 weeks

Prohibited or restricted

Weeks or months

The state enacted an abortion ban after 15 weeks of pregnancy, which will go into effect in July. The state’s high court recognized the right to abortion in its Constitution three decades ago, but the court has become more conservative, with three of the seven judges appointed by the Republican governor.

Georgia

22 weeks

Prohibited or restricted

Weeks or months

The state enacted a ban on abortion after six weeks of pregnancy, but a court blocked it. The state filed an appeal and a court stayed the case pending a Supreme Court decision on Dobbs.

Ohio

22 weeks

Prohibited or restricted

Weeks or months

The state enacted a ban on abortion after six weeks of pregnancy, with no exceptions for rape or incest, but it is temporarily blocked in court. Abortion opponents are likely to seek its enforcement.

South Carolina

22 weeks

Prohibited or restricted

Weeks or months

The state enacted a ban on abortion after six weeks of pregnancy, but a court blocked it. The state filed an appeal and a court stayed the case pending a Supreme Court decision on Dobbs.

The potential for limits on abortion, including a procedure that is used to treat uterine conditions other than pregnancy, will affect providers as well as patients.With at least 22 states poised to drastically limit or end abortion procedures if Roe v. Wade is overturned, how will the training of doctors, nurse practitioners and physician assistants be affected?If you are a student or educator in a profession licensed to perform abortions, including dilation and curettage, or D. and C., we would like to hear your thoughts.We may contact you to learn more, and we won’t publish any responses without your consent. If you’d prefer an even more secure means of communication, you can send your responses (and any records, images or other information) to nytimes.com/tips.

Share your story with The New York Times.Esperanza Ruiz Tapia, 85, received a coronavirus vaccine booster shot in Douglas, Ariz., in February.Paul Ratje for The New York TimesLess than half of vaccinated Americans who are eligible for a Covid booster have gotten one, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Now that the federal government is recommending a second booster for many people, we are interested in talking to those who have yet to get even one extra shot.Your responses will help to bring insight into how people are making decisions at this stage of the pandemic.A reporter may follow up with you. We won’t publish your name or comments without talking to you first.Tell us how you feel about Covid boosters.