Surgeon General Nominee Flip-Flops on Birth Control

Washington, D.C.

During her Wednesday confirmation hearing, surgeon general nominee Casey Means claimed a “huge amount” of hormonal contraceptives have been prescribed without patients giving “informed consent.” Her statement contradicts federal medical guidelines. Means, who holds a medical degree but does not have a medical license, previously called birth control a “disrespect of life” and overstated hormonal contraception risks. When pushed, she said oral birth control should remain available to patients.

Nashville

Vanderbilt University Medical Center announced this week that it will no longer provide gender-affirming surgery to trans adults. In a statement to the Vanderbilt Hustler, VUMC blamed the change on “operational limitations” and said it will still provide non-surgical gender-affirming care to adults. NYU Langone Health and Mount Sinai Health System in New York City recently stopped offering gender-affirming care to minors. Vanderbilt’s refusal to serve trans adults comes amid a growing federal battle against trans health care.

Menlo Park, California

Meta’s AI chatbots are trained to avoid discussing abortion and sexual health with users under 18, Mother Jones reported this week. Leaked documents show that Meta bans Facebook and WhatsApp AI from providing information “that helps a user obtain or carry out an abortion.” These AI also can’t offer advice to teens on the “physiology of reproductive organs,” puberty, menstruation, STI prevention, or contraception. Critics said the policies promote “censorship.” Meta said “age-appropriate” conversation is its goal.

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