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Alice Miranda Ollstein

@alicemiranda.bsky.social
11K followers 472 following 927 posts

Health Care Reporter for POLITICO focused on sexual and reproductive health care, including abortion, contraception and STIs. Author of the forthcoming book "Side Effects" with The New Press. www.politico.com/staff/alice-mirand…

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Alice Miranda Ollstein @alicemiranda.bsky.social · 41m
Honored to have the first excerpt of my book published by @politico.com! Out everywhere on Oct. 27. politico.com/news/magazine/2026/10/03/abortion-doctors-politics-roe-dobbs-01105039
politico.com
The Fall of Roe Changed Doctors. Now They’re Changing Politics.
State-level abortion debates have activated physicians as a political force like never before.
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Steve Herman @newsguy.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
WaPo - More than a year after the Trump administration attempted to dismantle Voice of America, it is paying an estimated $1.6 million a week to keep 420 of its staffers on administrative leave. wapo.st/4j1UpbF
wapo.st
Trump administration is paying $1.6 million a week to keep Voice of America staff on leave
Hundreds of VOA staffers have been on paid leave since the agency sidelined them in March 2025.
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NPR @npr.org · 01/10/2026
Starting Oct. 1, many immigrants who are here legally lose their Medicaid coverage because of the Republican budget bill passed last year. n.pr/4z0FPpq
n.pr
'It's a nightmare.' Former refugee, professor on Trump's new Medicaid policy
Starting Oct. 1, many immigrants who are here legally lose their Medicaid coverage because of the Republican budget bill passed last year.
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Joan Alker @joanalker1.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
The state of Nebraska has released data on the 1st few months of Medicaid work reporting requirements Over 1,000 people have lost/been denied coverage Vast majority are losing not bcuz they aren't working but bcuz they can't get thru the red tape My new blog: ccf.georgetown.edu/2026/09/30/n...
ccf.georgetown.edu
Nebraska Releases First Data on Medicaid Work Reporting Requirement: As Expected, Coverage Losses Start to Mount Due to Red Tape
At a recent Medicaid Advisory Committee meeting, the state of Nebraska, the first in the nation to implement what will soon be a mandatory Medicaid work reporting requirement (WRR), shared the first d...
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Maggie Astor @maggieastor.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
The 988 suicide prevention hotline's Press 3 option — which provides specialized services to LGBTQ callers — has been restored more than a year after the Trump administration shut it down. Confirmed by HHS and the office of Senator Tammy Baldwin, who led on legislation that forced its restoration
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Kelcie Moseley-Morris @kelciemmorris.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
NEW: Amid ongoing lawsuits seeking to revoke nationwide access to abortion drug mifepristone, AGs in Louisiana, Arkansas and Alabama have filed a lawsuit with the U.S. Supreme Court seeking to strike down shield laws in states with abortion access.
stateline.org
Republican AGs sue abortion ‘shield law’ states in U.S. Supreme Court • Stateline
BATON ROUGE, La. — Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill and the attorneys general in Arkansas and Alabama filed a lawsuit Tuesday in the U.S. Supreme Court, suing California, Massachusetts and New Y...
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Alice Miranda Ollstein @alicemiranda.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
It's important to track not only which new website the government launches, but which ones it gets rid of.
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Alice Miranda Ollstein @alicemiranda.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
"About 8 in 10 rural voters — an important voting bloc for Trump and fellow Republicans — said the Trump administration’s policies have had a negative effect or no impact on the health of people where they live." apnews.com/article/rura...
apnews.com
Rural MAHA followers say Trump hasn't improved health of their communities, an AP-KFF poll finds
A new AP-KFF poll finds that the Make America Healthy Again movement has a substantial following among rural voters, but most don't think President Donald Trump's healthcare policies have benefited th...
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Alice Miranda Ollstein @alicemiranda.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
"A.I. tools condition people to expect immediate responses and deny them the experience of working through challenges, which is crucial for skill development and one of the strongest predictors of long-term learning." www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
nytimes.com
Will A.I. Make Your Brain Lazy?
We’re starting to learn more about how the technology can change us.
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Charles Ornstein @charlesornstein.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Americans Are About to Lose Access to Cheap Gray-Market Prescriptions From Canada
wsj.com
Americans Are About to Lose Access to Cheap Gray-Market Prescriptions From Canada
Millions who use online pharmacies from Canada and other countries could get cut off in October.
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Alice Miranda Ollstein @alicemiranda.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
"Having set out to show that telemedicine [abortion] services don’t screen their clients, they inadvertently proved the opposite." www.motherjones.com/politics/202...
motherjones.com
Kristan Hawkins helped kill Roe. Now she’s fighting to control the movement she created.
How the Charlie Kirk of abortion moved from the fringes to the mainstream.
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Alice Miranda Ollstein @alicemiranda.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
"In just the past few months, members of Trump’s Cabinet and agency heads have regularly found themselves blindsided, overruled or scrambling to implement the president’s announcements on some of the most sensitive issues in their portfolios." www.politico.com/news/magazin...
politico.com
Serving at his pleasure: What it’s like to be in Trump’s Cabinet
What it’s like to be in Donald Trump’s Cabinet.
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Alice Miranda Ollstein @alicemiranda.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
@bookstr.bsky.social named my forthcoming book SIDE EFFECTS one of their "Nonfiction New Releases to Pique Your Interest This October" and says the book "shifts the issue of abortion access away from a culture war and instead frames it as a serious, all-encompassing health crisis."
bookstr.com
22 Nonfiction New Releases to Pique Your Interest This October
From jaw-dropping tell-alls to informative guides to delectable cooking, October’s nonfiction titles are waiting to haunt your bookshelf!
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Alice Miranda Ollstein @alicemiranda.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
Deep dive into what's going on at the CDC --> www.nytimes.com/2026/09/26/h...
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Emily Bregel @emilybregel.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
A Phoenix man deported to Equatorial Guinea was hospitalized after passing out in a police-station cell, where he's been held "incommunicado" for two weeks following his arbitrary arrest, lawyers said. @tucson.com tucson.com/news/local/s...
tucson.com
Arizona man hospitalized in Equatorial Guinea; U.S. officials mum on abuse claims
A Phoenix man deported to Equatorial Guinea was hospitalized after passing out in a police-station cell, where he's been held "incommunicado" for two weeks following his arbitrary arrest, lawyers said...
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Apoorva Mandavilli @apoorvanyt.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
I’ve been reporting on the CDC for years, and have written about many of its troubles over the past year. I was still shocked by the extent of the staff losses and political interference I found when reporting this one. www.nytimes.com/2026/09/26/h...
nytimes.com
‘Zombified’ C.D.C., Hobbled by Cuts, Struggles to Fulfill Scientific Mission (Gift Article)
The agency has lost its independence and nearly a third of its staff, as Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and associates have tightened control.
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Alice Miranda Ollstein @alicemiranda.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
Excited to see everyone later today at the @texastribune.org Festival
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Alice Miranda Ollstein @alicemiranda.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
@warnock.senate.gov at @texastribune.org Fest laments how narrow the Medicare drug price negotiation bill he helped pass turned out to be—with years of delays in implementation and a very small number of medications covered.
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STAT @statnews.com · 25/09/2026
Virtually all of the 175,000 public comments on a 2022 FDA proposal to ban menthol cigarettes were form letters, most echoing tobacco industry talking points. www.statnews.com/2026/09/25/fake-gr…
statnews.com
How Big Tobacco flooded the FDA with public comments to kill a menthol cigarette ban
Virtually all of the 175,000 public comments on a 2022 FDA proposal to ban menthol cigarettes were form letters, most echoing tobacco industry talking points.
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Sofia Resnick @sofiaresnick.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
High-risk pregnancy doctors publish new standards for care under state abortion bans by @kelciemmorris.bsky.social stateline.org/2026/09/25/h...
stateline.org
High-risk pregnancy doctors publish new standards for care under state abortion bans • Stateline
As physicians continue to navigate care for patients with complex pregnancies in states with abortion bans, a group of maternal-fetal medicine specialists has developed new guidelines to help provider...
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Alice Miranda Ollstein @alicemiranda.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
As I detail in my book, Texas is not the only state to delay/limit/suspend the release of data on maternal mortality after banning abortion. Georgia & Idaho also revamped their medical committees in ways that doctors and lawmakers say clouds the picture of the bans' impact on maternal health.
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Alice Miranda Ollstein @alicemiranda.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
Activists and elected officials are demonstrating outside Texas’ health department in Austin as the state’s maternal mortality committee holds a meeting closed to the public and press about the women who have died since the state banned abortion.
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Catherine Rampell @crampell.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
Trump administration again omits refugees fleeing religious persecution from US refugee program religionnews.com/2026/09/23/t...
religionnews.com
Trump administration again omits refugees fleeing religious persecution from US program
(RNS) — The Trump administration set the refugee cap for 2027 at 17,500, the same as this year. That would make it the second year in a row of historically low admissions — made up primarily of white ...
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Alice Miranda Ollstein @alicemiranda.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
My book is in good company at the Texas Tribune Festival! @imaniperry.bsky.social @sarahlongwell25.bsky.social @profmmurray.bsky.social @davidpakman.bsky.social
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Alice Miranda Ollstein @alicemiranda.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Crowd at @texastribune.org Fest cheers as @jamestalarico.bsky.social pledges not to confirm anti-abortion judges if elected & to vote for a bill that restores federal abortion rights. He calls people's "right to control their own bodies" one of "the most fundamental of rights in our democracy."
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Mark Follman @markfollman.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
NEWS: My new investigation uncovers the horrific ChatGPT history of the Tumbler Ridge school shooter. OpenAI’s chatbot fueled the shooter's violent fantasies and plans up to the day of the massacre. Chats about guns, timing of attacks, becoming infamous, and more. www.motherjones.com/media/2026/0...
motherjones.com
ChatGPT helped the Tumbler Ridge school shooter focus on guns, tactics, and terror, our investigation reveals
OpenAI’s chatbot fed the shooter’s violent fantasies and planning up to the massacre.
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Politico @politico.com · 24/09/2026
Overton skirts senators’ questions on abortion pill
dlvr.it
Overton skirts senators’ questions on abortion pill
The FDA commissioner nominee said an ongoing agency safety review would determine any regulatory changes.
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Ryan Goodman @rgoodlaw.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
From 16,000 to 185 to Zero: Trump’s Claims of Illegal Voting in Nevada Fizzle. "The state sent a strongly worded rebuke to the federal government: Every single person on the list was a lawful citizen."
nytimes.com
From 15,000 to 185 to Zero: Trump’s Claims of Illegal Voting in Nevada Fizzle
It was the Trump administration’s latest stumble in its effort to find proof of widespread noncitizen voting, despite decades of evidence that it is extremely rare.
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Politico @politico.com · 24/09/2026
Overton skirts senators’ questions on abortion pill
dlvr.it
Overton skirts senators’ questions on abortion pill
The FDA commissioner nominee said an ongoing agency safety review would determine any regulatory changes.
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Kyle Cheney @kyledcheney.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
JUST IN: A federal judge has issued a permanent injunction upbraiding ICE for mass arrests that have strained detention facilities and forced detainees all over the country into "overcrowded, squalid, and degrading rooms for excessive periods of time" www.nysd.uscourts.gov/sites/defaul...
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Alice Miranda Ollstein @alicemiranda.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
This is a big deal. As I explore on my book, confusion/misinformation about IUDs led to coverage of the contraceptives being cut from government programs in a bunch of states after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.
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Alice Miranda Ollstein @alicemiranda.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
She is presumably referring to the FDA's original review/approval of the drug in 2000, not the re-review that is currently underway inside the agency that began after anti-abortion groups that want to ban the pills pressured the administration.
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Alice Miranda Ollstein @alicemiranda.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
@murray.senate.gov asks Trump's FDA nominee Heidi Overton if she believes the abortion drug mifepristone is safe & effective. "I know that it has met the safety and efficacy standards of the FDA's review," she said. Murray notes that she called the pills "dangerous" before joining the admin.
politico.com
Trump's pick to lead the FDA faces uphill Senate battle
Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee Chair Bill Cassidy has already signaled her vaccine policy work may cost her his vote.
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Kyle Griffin @kylegriffin1.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
BREAKING: A POLITICO reporter was denied access to the White House Thursday and his press credentials confiscated after a judge ordered the Trump admin to immediately restore access for news organizations that Trump banned.
politico.com
POLITICO barred from White House after court ruling restoring access
The Secret Service confiscated a POLITICO reporter's press pass Thursday morning despite a federal judge’s decision hours earlier that a media ban appeared to violate the constitutional due process ri...
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Whitney Zahnd @whitneyzahnd.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
Roughly twice as many rural voters say Trump’s health care policies have had a negative rather than a positive impact on Medicaid (44% vs. 24%) and Medicare (44% vs. 21%). www.kff.org/public-opini...
Graph showing rural voters' views on the impact of Trump's health care policies--largely negative.
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Alice Miranda Ollstein @alicemiranda.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
The Trump admin is in a Massachusetts District court right now defending new conditions it imposed on the Ryan White program that bar providers from acknowledging the transgender identity of patients with HIV. lambdalegal.org/case/america...
lambdalegal.org
The American Academy of HIV Medicine et al. v. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services et al.
HHS issued funding restrictions that prohibit the use of Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program funds for gender-affirming care for transgender people living with HIV. Lambda Legal and co-counsel argue these res...
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Alice Miranda Ollstein @alicemiranda.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
Thrilled to have Side Effects "highly recommended" by the @libraryjournal.bsky.social! www.libraryjournal.com/review/side-...
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Alice Miranda Ollstein @alicemiranda.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
NEW: Trump’s CDC quietly uploaded data from its biannual survey of teenagers that was left out of the MAHA-focused summary it touted on Monday. It showed that teens are having less sex, but riskier sex, with lower contraception use & less STI testing. subscriber.politicopro.com/article/2026...
subscriber.politicopro.com
POLITICO Pro: More veggies, more unprotected sex: Government survey of teens shows mixed risk picture
The CDC’s report on its youth behavior survey highlighted teens' responses on diet and exercise, but not on smoking, drinking or sexual health.
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Sarah Karlin-Smith @sarahkarlin-smith.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
Lilly pledged to make insulin available at $25/vial for uninsured but it introduced restrictions based on geography and needs, and insulins that are subject to these voluntary price caps are often out of stock at the pharmacy when people go to fill a prescription. via @dylanlscott.bsky.social
vox.com
A shocking number of Americans are still rationing insulin
Insulin still doesn’t cost $35. Here’s what it will take to make it truly affordable.
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Alice Miranda Ollstein @alicemiranda.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
A 9th Circuit 3-judge panel (all women) is hearing arguments right now about the enforcement of Idaho's abortion ban in medical emergencies. Qs so far: “Does the mother have a fundamental right to her life?” “Is there a bright line between health and life?” www.ca9.uscourts.gov/cases/stream...
ca9.uscourts.gov
Streaming | United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
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Alice Miranda Ollstein @alicemiranda.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
Easiest answer ever: cooking! It's like making delicious presents for your future self.
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Sanho Tree @sanho.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
“He asked the agents if he could stop somewhere safer than in traffic under the freeway. He said an agent told him no, then he felt one shot to his back.”
texastribune.org
Migrant shot by ICE in Texas said he tried to pull over
Wilber Rafael Garces Perez legally entered the country in 2024 via the CBP One app and applied for asylum, his attorneys said. But he missed a court hearing after the notice went to the wrong address.
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Alice Miranda Ollstein @alicemiranda.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
This coming Saturday, 9/26.
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Alice Miranda Ollstein @alicemiranda.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
I'll be holding my first-ever book signing at the @texastribune.org festival this week, following a panel on life in Texas after Roe v. Wade with @eleanorklib.bsky.social and @reprorights.org. Come through, Austin!
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Scott Horton @robertscotthorton.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
On Sep 11 in Alamo, Texas, Luis Ochoa and another teen stopped to film ICE agents during a vehicle stop near a school. Agents pulled one from their car, struck him, used pepper spray, and detained them for 8 hrs even after they proved their citizenship, one ICE agent stating, 'I don’t give a damn.'
krgv.com
Mother of teen detained in viral Alamo ICE arrest video deported
The mother of a 17-year-old detained by ICE in a viral Alamo, Texas incident has been deported to Mexico, raising concerns among legal experts about potential retaliation for speaking out.
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Charles Ornstein @charlesornstein.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
Simply 🤯 story! In 2024, the FBI sought to launch a sweeping pay-to-play investigation examining interactions between Sen. Susan Collins and a top donor, records and emails show. After Donald Trump returned to office, the investigation died. www.propublica.org/article/fbi-...
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Philip Bump @pbump.com · 21/09/2026
ICE shot a DoorDash delivery guy.
statesman.com
Attorney: Austin man shot by ICE agent was making DoorDash delivery
A Venezuelan man shot by an ICE agent in Austin was making a DoorDash delivery, his attorney said. Wilber Rafael Garces Perez, 28, was later released from the hospital into ICE custody.
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Alice Miranda Ollstein @alicemiranda.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
"This is complete corporate capture.” www.politico.com/news/2026/09...
politico.com
Corporate America is paying for access to RFK Jr.
The upcoming Make America Healthy Again Summit is brought to you by companies with business before the Health Department.
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Alice Miranda Ollstein @alicemiranda.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
Good analysis of how podcast bros coopted MAHA and steered the Trump admin's efforts toward the health anxieties of men (protein, testosterone, etc) and away from the priorities of the moms who founded the movement (pesticides, chemical additives in food)
motherjones.com
Women built MAHA. MAGA bros have taken it over.
Forget regulating food—manly MAHA cares about meat, testosterone, and erectile dysfunction.
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Alice Miranda Ollstein @alicemiranda.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
"Audiences and donors fled, and its finances cratered... Mr. Trump’s threats this past week suggest that saving face, not lives, better explains why he shuttered the Kennedy Center" www.nytimes.com/2026/09/20/u...
nytimes.com
How President Trump Broke the Kennedy Center (Gift Article)
Internal emails and documents demonstrate the political capture of the institution, including how officials once pursued a plan to unload much of the art collection.
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