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More than 120 House Democrats have signed a letter asking President Joe Biden to urge the nation’s archivist to recognize the ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment by publishing the amendment first proposed 101 years ago — a move they believe would finally enshrine sex equality into the Constitution. If the president does as the Democrats ask, the publication of the ERA would probably spark legal challenges over the validity of the amendment, which, despite having met all the constitutional requirements, has not been added to the Constitution because not enough states ratified it in time to meet a Congress-mandated deadline. (Alfaro, 12/15)

Want to know the latest about research funded by the National Institutes of Health on topics including menopause, polycystic ovary syndrome and other conditions affecting women’s health? Discover Women’s Health Research (DiscoverWHR), a recently launched website on federally funded women’s health research across the lifespan, offers answers. The portal is a resource from NIH in support of the White House Initiative on Women’s Health Research, which is focused on closing research gaps and improving prevention, detection and treatment of health issues affecting girls and women. (Blakemore, 12/15)

A court-ordered system for protecting the health of children detained at the southern border, put in place two years ago after several children died in custody, is set to expire nine days after Donald J. Trump takes office with plans to intensify the deportation of migrants. The system, part of a July 2022 legal settlement between the government and lawyers representing migrant children in custody, set detailed protocols for detaining minors at Customs and Border Protection facilities in the Rio Grande Valley and El Paso sectors. It required agents to provide them with access to emergency care and basic hygiene items — showers, toothbrushes and blankets for sleeping, for example. It forbade agents to separate children from their parents for extended periods of time. (Baumgaertner, 12/13)

As her tenure as director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention winds down, Mandy Cohen is in persuasion mode — simultaneously trying to convince critics of the CDC in the incoming administration that the agency has re-focused since its pandemic-era missteps, and calm nervous staff about what is to come. (Branswell, 12/16)