Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Shefali Luthra @shefali.bsky.social · 1d

The tenacious Mel Leonor Barclay spent time with Jacqueline, a mom in Florida whose husband was recently deported. She fears the same could happen to her.

She has no income. Someone donated her a crib & carseat. She still needs a bathtub for her son, who was just born.

19thnews.org/2025/10/preg...

Jacqueline approached the last days of her pregnancy hopeful that the place she had chosen — a large university hospital that workers at her local clinic recommended — would be a safe place for her to give birth.

One night at the end of September, when labor pains grew too intense, she called for an ambulance and made it to the hospital. When she got there, she asked her providers if there were any ICE agents near the building. She had heard of a man at a local hospital being detained after having surgery. They told her there were none they were aware of.

She went on to deliver her baby under general anesthesia after a long, difficult labor. “I didn’t even hear him cry when they pulled him out,” she said. Her only relative left in the area was taking care of her daughter, so she recovered alone at the hospital for five days before heading home in an Uber that a social worker procured for her and her son.

“If my husband was here, he would have been there with me at the hospital,” Jacqueline said while recovering at home. “He would be here taking care of me, of us. I wouldn’t be worried about the things I still want to get for the baby.”

1

Shefali Luthra @shefali.bsky.social · 1d

One midwife described emergency C-sections because of untreated diabetes & preeclampsia.

One doctor has seen patients give birth to nonviable pregnancies, with anomalies that were never detected b/c they got no primary care.

And then there is this.

19thnews.org/2025/10/preg...

"In recent months, Dr. Caitlin Bernard, an Indiana-based OB-GYN, has seen a number of pregnant patients seeking emergency attention who have not received any prenatal health care. One was 31 weeks, approaching the end of her pregnancy. Another was more than 20 weeks pregnant when she came to Bernard’s office, having developed complications from a molar pregnancy — a rare condition that means a healthy birth is impossible and that without early treatment can result in vaginal bleeding, thyroid problems and even cancer.

“Anytime you’re not able to access that early prenatal care, we do see complications with that,” she said. “And many of these things can absolutely be life-threatening for both the moms and the babies.”

Dr. Daisy Leon-Martinez, a maternal-fetal medicine specialist in San Francisco, said she now regularly cares for patients in her labor and delivery ward who have been transferred to her hospital because of newly developed pregnancy complications. These are often their first doctors’ visits since becoming pregnant. Many of those patients have told her that they did not want to seek prenatal care for fear of encountering immigration officials.

During regular visits, she added, she has advised people with pregnancy complications that they would be best served by a hospital stay — only to be told that her patients no longer feel safe going to the hospital."

1 5

Shefali Luthra @shefali.bsky.social · 1d

“My biggest fear is going to the hospital."

Pregnant immigrants are terrified ICE will show up outside the doctors' office or at the hospital. So they're skipping the care necessary to ensure a healthy birth.

Some experience dangerous complications as a result.

19thnews.org/2025/10/preg...

ICE fears put pregnant immigrants and their babies at risk

Fear of deportation is deterring people without permanent legal status from critical care. Doctors are worried for their health — and the health of their pregnancies.

19thnews.org

2 49 76

Reposted by Shefali Luthra

CJ Fogler @cjzero.bsky.social · 1d

Relatable, Trevor

7 79 660

Shefali Luthra @shefali.bsky.social · 3d

woke up this week from a dream that the PTA fan club saw One Battle at the AFI in 70mm … It was a prophecy

The preview screen at the AFI before One Battle After Another

2

Shefali Luthra @shefali.bsky.social · 7d

Maine Family Planning, one of the state's main Title X grantees, will shut down primary care after Oct 31 b/c of the law cutting it out of Medicaid.

From the org: "MFP will continue seeing patients who need family planning care, regardless of insurance status, for as long as we are able."

4 2

Shefali Luthra @shefali.bsky.social · 7d

For the first time since Dobbs, voters who say abortion is their top priority are more likely to opposite it, per new @19thnews.org poll. They're also likelier to back Trump.

In general, fewer Americans call abortion their top issue.

Most still say abortion should be legal in most or all cases.

Abortion’s most motivated voters went from defenders to opponents

A 19th News/SurveyMonkey poll suggests that abortion rights supporters are now less likely to prioritize the issue.

19thnews.org

3 3 11

Shefali Luthra @shefali.bsky.social · 8d

hope somebody told Taylor Swift to go to Pattaya Thai before the Jags game

Reposted by Shefali Luthra

Jessica Kutz @jkutzie.bsky.social · 8d

🚨 🥳 For the next 12 weeks, The 19th is talking all things menopause in a new, weekly newsletter authored by reporter @jennifergerson.bsky.social. Sign up to get each new edition delivered straight to your inbox:

19thnews.org/newsletters/...

Menopause, without the noise

We’re talking about it, in your inbox every Tuesday.

19thnews.org

3 8

Shefali Luthra @shefali.bsky.social · 9d

can’t believe we get bad bunny halftime the year the jags win the super bowl

2

Shefali Luthra @shefali.bsky.social · 12d

taking one battle after another out of DC IMAX screens after only one week ... what are we doing here!!!!

1

Reposted by Shefali Luthra

Chabeli Carrazana @chabeli.bsky.social · 13d

For a story! Looking to speak to women about the cost of living — groceries, child care, housing, medical bills, retirement.

If you want to chat, I'm here or at ccarrazana(at)19thnews.org!

2 24 16

Shefali Luthra @shefali.bsky.social · 16d

JAGS

1

Reposted by Shefali Luthra

Kai Kupferschmidt @kakape.bsky.social · 20d

“ABC and CBS are making a serious miscalculation. Their servility to Trump will not earn them peace, only greater pressure.”

That’s the German professional association of journalists, @djv.de, calling on major US media to support their journalists instead of preemptively silencing them.

Nicht vor MAGA-Kult einknicken

Der Deutsche Journalisten-Verband ruft die Verantwortlichen der großen US-Medien dazu auf, ihren Journalistinnen und Journalisten den Rücken zu stärken, statt…

www.djv.de

73 1.4K 4.2K

Shefali Luthra @shefali.bsky.social · 21d

This is a really strong piece of journalism that captures what it actually feels like when ICE targets your neighborhood

www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/202...

A D.C. neighborhood long home to immigrants pushes back against ICE arrests

In Mount Pleasant, long home to a large Latino immigrant community, neighbors have sought ways to counter a pervasive sense of helplessness as ICE agents have swooped in.

www.washingtonpost.com

2 3

Shefali Luthra @shefali.bsky.social · 22d

m.youtube.com/watch?v=Yq0O...

"Why Not Subsidize People?" The Candidate 1972 Robert Redford

YouTube video by Lupe Vallejo

m.youtube.com

2

Shefali Luthra @shefali.bsky.social · 22d

Fascinating new research from @caitlinmyers.bsky.social and others shows that when laws restrict abortion, we see a jump in property crimes such as car theft, burglary.

It underscores how financially destabilizing unplanned pregnancy can be — and how ill-equipped our safety net is to address it.

When abortion access shrinks, property crime rises, new research finds

Researchers found a “strikingly large” relationship between restrictions on abortion and property crime, underscoring the connection between abortion bans and poverty.

19thnews.org

2 15 32

Shefali Luthra @shefali.bsky.social · 22d

Full list of new members here: www.hhs.gov/press-room/h...

www.hhs.gov

1

Shefali Luthra @shefali.bsky.social · 22d

RFK Jr.'s newly appointed members of a top vaccine advisory panel include an anti-abortion OBGYN from Louisiana who's spoken at Right to Life events and defended the state's abortion restrictions:

www.wwno.org/public-healt...

prolifelouisiana.org/addressing-p...

Rape and incest exceptions voted down along party lines in Louisiana House committee

Two bills to add rape and incest exceptions to Louisiana’s abortion ban failed in the state House Criminal Justice Committee on Wednesday.

www.wwno.org

1 3 3

Reposted by Shefali Luthra

19thnews @19thnews.org · 24d

Did you sweat through your clothes, burst into tears for no reason or want to scream at someone for chewing too loudly today? We’ve got a newsletter for you.

Sign up for The 19th’s new newsletter all about perimenopause, menopause and the cultural experience of navigating middle age.

Menopause, without the noise

We’re talking about it, in your inbox every Tuesday.

19thnews.org

2 14 38

Shefali Luthra @shefali.bsky.social · 26d

In a press call just now, Planned Parenthood CEO Alexis McGill Johnson confirmed that some affiliates — in places where abortion is otherwise available — may stop providing the service in an effort to preserve Medicaid funding.

Full quote below, replying to a q from @cartersherman.bsky.social

Our Planned Parenthood committees have created an option for affiliates to stop providing abortion in the event that abortion is able to be provided in that community. That’s not an attempt to walk away from abortion. Planned Parenthood strongly stands behind our need and ability to provide abortion care wherever it is legal in this country. It is simply an opportunity for us to engage our federation to be able to provide care and preserve as much Medicaid funding for reimbursment.

1 2

Shefali Luthra @shefali.bsky.social · 26d

Planned Parenthood provides many health care services beyond abortion: STI testing, birth control, cancer screening, gender-affirming care

But it’s important to remember that cutting it out of Medicaid is part of an effort to restrict abortion nationwide

19thnews.org/2025/07/new-...

The new strategy to restrict abortion nationwide — without saying 'ban'

Trump won’t back a national abortion ban, but anti-abortion groups have other ideas on how to severely limit access to the procedure even in states where it is legal.

19thnews.org

20 52

Shefali Luthra @shefali.bsky.social · 26d

We’ve written a bit about what this could mean — including its potential to shut down the destination clinics patients have been traveling to for abortions.

19thnews.org/2025/07/abor...

Trump's law “defunds” Planned Parenthood, which could lead to clinic closures across the country. States where abortion is legal stand to be hit the hardest.

19thnews.org

1 1 4

Shefali Luthra @shefali.bsky.social · 26d

An appeals court has allowed the Planned Parenthood defunding to take effect.

The organization confirms that this means patients covered through Medicaid cannot use it to pay for health care. Decision is effective immediately.

www.documentcloud.org/documents/26...

PPFAvKennedyCA1091125

www.documentcloud.org

1 6 9

Shefali Luthra @shefali.bsky.social · 27d

The surge of ICE arrests in DC is threatening the women who keep child care centers operational.

One child care worker used to take kids to the library and local parks. It no longer feels safe to do so.

“People don’t feel that freedom to walk through the streets.”

19thnews.org/2025/09/chil...

‘They are hunting us:’ Child care workers in D.C. go underground amid ICE crackdown

In Washington, D.C., where close to 40 percent of child care workers are immigrants, fear has taken hold amid a crime crackdown that has raised ICE presence. Many are missing work, deepening a staffin...

19thnews.org

1