A sign urging voters to vote "no" on Issue 1 in front of the Franklin County Board of Elections in Columbus, Ohio, on August 3. (Samantha Hendrickson / AP)
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The results underscore the new political reality, one that’s been repeatedly demonstrated in both blue and red states: Since the Supreme Court’s reversal of Roe v. Wade last year, abortion rights are a major, driving force.

(agilemktg1 / Flickr)

For the first time since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, Medicaid recipients are being asked to provide proof of their eligibility.

(Photo by Kristina Tripkovic on Unsplash)
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An increase in domestic violence reports has not only highlighted the need for better legal protection and laws for survivors, but also the need for creating an improved network of care in cases of abuse. Dozens of organizations in Chicago are working to address those needs. 

From left, lung transplant patient Dennis Deer, 50, is shown with pulmonologist Dr. Catherine Myers of Northwestern Medicine. Nurse practitioner Jennifer Wright is shown with lung transplant patient Yahaira Vega, 27. (Erin Valle / Northwestern Medicine)

All of the organs in  Dennis Deer’s chest and abdomen — including his lungs — were flip-flopped in his body, with organs that should be on the right existing on the left and vice versa.

Zuranolone, a new postpartum depression pill, was found to be safe and effective in a Phase 3 trial. (Feinstein Institutes)

It’s estimated that each year in the U.S., more than 400,000 babies are born to mothers who are depressed. Without any treatment, postpartum depression can last for months or even years, according to the National Institute of Mental Health.

(WTTW News)

According to Walgreens, which announced last year it was entering the clinical trials business, only about 5% of people in the U.S. participate in clinical trials and almost three-quarters of those participants are White.

FILE - Attorney Ben Crump, second from left, walks with Ron Lacks, left, Alfred Lacks Carter, third from left, both grandsons of Henrietta Lacks, and other descendants of Lacks, outside the federal courthouse in Baltimore, Oct. 4, 2021. (Steve Ruark / AP Photo, file)
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Tissue taken from Henrietta Lacks became the first human cells to continuously grow and reproduce in lab dishes. HeLa cells went on to become a cornerstone of modern medicine, enabling countless scientific and medical innovations.

Loretto Hospital employee Michaela Jilliam speaks at a strike rally on Aug. 4, 2023. (WTTW News)

Front-line service, care and technical workers are among the 200 workers at Loretto Hospital in Austin who have been on strike since Monday.

(WTTW News)

Local public health departments are continuing to monitor COVID-19 levels in the area as the U.S. sees a late-summer uptick in test positivity and hospitalizations.

FILE - This illustration provided by AstraZeneca depicts packaging for its medication Beyfortus. (AstraZeneca via AP, File)

An infection with RSV is a cold-like nuisance for most healthy people, but it can be life-threatening for the very young and the elderly. There are no vaccines for babies, so the new drug is expected to fill a critical need.

Gov. J.B. Pritzker takes questions on Monday after a news conference at which his administration announced a new interagency effort to ensure access to abortion care in Illinois. (Credit: Illinois.gov)
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Gov. J.B. Pritzker announced several new programs to help address the influx of out-of-state abortion seekers the state has seen in the 13 months since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.

Loretto Hospital workers and other union supporters picket in front of the hospital’s emergency wing in Austin during the first day of the strike on July 31, 2023. (Eunice Alpasan / WTTW News)
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Hospital workers at Loretto Hospital in Austin went to the picket lines Monday after the hospital and its workers union failed to come to an agreement on key bargaining issues such as increased wages and staffing, and adding Juneteenth as a permanent holiday.

This undated, colorized electron microscope image made available by the U.S. National Institutes of Health in February 2020 shows the Novel Coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, indicated in yellow, emerging from the surface of cells, indicated in blue/pink, cultured in a laboratory. (NIAID-RML via AP, File)

Monday’s announcement from the NIH’s $1.15 billion RECOVER project comes amid frustration from patients who’ve struggled for months or even years with sometimes-disabling health problems.

Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul stands with fellow abortion rights advocates on Thursday, July 27, 2023, to celebrate the signing of a bill allowing Illinoisans to sue crisis pregnancy centers that engage in “deceptive acts” aimed at deterring abortions. (Hannah Meisel / Capitol News Illinois)

Crisis pregnancy centers are facilities often affiliated with anti-abortion, usually religious, organizations. CPCs range from volunteer-run outfits that can’t offer much more than counseling to facilities with licensed medical professionals on staff who can perform exams.

(WTTW News)
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A decade-long push to reopen public mental health clinics closed in 2011 and expand efforts to respond to 911 calls for help not with police officers but with social workers and counselors was center stage at City Hall Monday.

(WTTW News)

The Northwestern Medicine Comprehensive COVID-19 Center released the results of a study on 1,200 long COVID patients. According the CDC, one in five COVID-19 patients experienced long COVID three months later, about 150 million adults in the U.S.