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Missouri Republicans continued their assault on women’s access to sexual and reproductive health care during the 2024 legislative session. This practice is becoming all too disturbing. This time, on a straight party-line vote, Republicans passed House Bill 2634. The new law, signed by Gov. Mike Parson, marks the culmination of a yearslong effort to defund Planned Parenthood clinics in Missouri. (Emily Weber, 6/24)

My daughter, Mallory, died in 2017 at the age of 25 from a multiply resistant bacterial lung infection that followed a double-lung transplant necessitated by cystic fibrosis. In the weeks before her death, my wife, Diane Shader Smith, and I sought out and obtained an innovative yet underused treatment for antibiotic-resistant bacteria known as phage therapy. Her physicians administered the therapy, but it was too late to save Mallory’s life. An autopsy, though, confirmed that the phages had reached their target and had started to work. (Mark H. Smith, 6/23)

The most recent national survey estimated 650,000 people experienced homelessness on a single night in 2023, up 12 percent from 2022. People experiencing homelessness seek medical attention for ailments directly attributable to their living conditions—and yet the health care system fails to address the underlying problem, which creates a cycle of hospitalizations. Without more housing that people like my patient can afford, the care that doctors like me provide can be futile. (Jeremy Cygler, 6/20)

Earlier this year, healthcare professionals from many states came together at meetings organized by the National Health Care CEO Council on Gun Violence Prevention and Safety to focus on the implementation of evidence-based firearm injury prevention strategies. (Rob Allen, 6/21)

Suicide rates in the United States increased approximately 36% between 2000 and 2022, according to updated data from the National Center for Health Statistics. Suicide was responsible for just under 50,000 deaths in 2022 (the last year with complete statistics) — an all-time high. As this appalling trend continues, offering mental health assessments and care in primary care settings could help save lives. (Roshni Koli and Christine Yu Moutier, 6/24)