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@tsmendola

@tsmendola.bsky.social
362 followers 898 following 218 posts

Assistant Professor of Emergency Medicine @ Hofstra & Asst. Program Director of the Division of Women's Health @ NSUH & @ LIJ. Scary abortion lady writing on sex, culture, power. Views are my own do not represent Northwell Health.

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Reposted by @tsmendola
Autonomy News @autonomynews.co · 25/06/2026
HBO's hit show The Pitt showed some of the barriers sexual assault survivors face in healthcare—like rape kit backlogs, and lack of trained nurse examiners. But in this op-ed, three experts explain that the reality is even more dire than what the show depicted:
autonomynews.co
For Sexual Assault Survivors, Reality Falls Far Short of ‘The Pitt’
It’s rare for ERs to have specially trained nurses working when survivors need them.
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Timothy McBride @mcbridetd.bsky.social · 01/02/2026
BREAKING... and Thank God... 5-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos, father board plane for Minneapolis after detention center release - ABC News abcnews.go.com/amp/US/5-yea...
abcnews.go.com
5-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos, father board plane for Minneapolis after detention center release
A federal judge on Saturday ordered that the pair be released.
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Susan Rinkunas @susanrinkunas.com · 14/10/2025
My quarterly bill is due for accessing federal court documents. These docs *should* be free but aren’t—though I do share my uploads via the great @free.law project. Support @autonomynews.co with a paid membership or tip jar offering to cover these costs www.autonomynews.co/support/
October 2025 PACER Quarterly Invoice
Public Access To Court Electronic Records
Please pay the amount below prior to the due date.
Account Number: [redacted]

Account Contact: Susan Rinkunas
Balance Due: $39.70
Due Date: 11/10/2025
To access the statement:
• Log in to Manage My Account.
• From the Usage tab, select View Quarterly Invoice/ Statement of Account.
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Garnet Henderson @garnethenderson.com · 13/10/2025
ICYMI, @susanrinkunas.com got the lowdown on the @plancpills.bsky.social site redesign for @autonomynews.co. One update I appreciate: A feature that tells people when they can get their abortion covered by Medicaid in their state, so hopefully fewer people will pay for pills they could get free.
autonomynews.co
Exclusive: Plan C Doubles Down on Abortion Pill Info Amid Political Attacks
The online abortion pill guide has been redesigned to make it even easier to learn where to get pills, including at no cost.
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Julie DiCaro @juliedicaro.bsky.social · 11/10/2025
RIP, Diane. 😩
youtu.be
The First Wives Club - You Don't Own Me
YouTube video by WatchWithMati
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Jennifer Molidor @jennifermolidor.bsky.social · 10/10/2025
Hanging onto every bit of good news The river has come alive in the Klamath with wild Chinook salmon. The wider ecosystem is healing. This most powerful story of Indigenous-led #rewilding after the largest dam removal in US history keeps getting better. lostcoastoutpost.com/2025/oct/9/o...
lostcoastoutpost.com
One Year After Klamath Dam Removal, 'There's Just Fish Jumping All Over the Place': Scientists Describe Improvements to Water Quality and Wildlife
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Susan Rinkunas @susanrinkunas.com · 10/10/2025
New from me on @autonomynews.co: The popular abortion pill resource Plan C relaunched this week with a new design that better displays the many, many options for medication abortion in all 50 states
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@tsmendola @tsmendola.bsky.social · 09/10/2025
Happy #dafday! Did you know that our Division of Women’s Health on Emergency Medicine—the only one in the US!— is 100% reliant on your tax-deductible donations to further our mission to end gender-based care disparities in the ER? From miscarriage management to cardiac emergencies, we need you.
A QR donation code on a pale lavender background.
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Susan Rinkunas @susanrinkunas.com · 08/10/2025
NEW: Planned Parenthood's Manhattan clinic will stop seeing patients as of November 1 as affiliate prepares to sell the building amid budget shortfalls. Sale announced in March Patients told to schedule at Bronx, Brooklyn, or Queens (LIC) clinics or virtual www.plannedparenthood.org/health-cente...
screenshot:
The Manhattan Health Center will no longer see patients as of November 1, 2025. Book in-person services at our Bronx, Brooklyn and Queens health centers or a virtual visit through our Virtual Health Center.
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Kevin Ault @kevinault.bsky.social · 01/10/2025
it's the five year anniversary of this publication in @nejm.org that demonstrated protection against cancer by the HPV vaccine - #OncSky + #MedSky.
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NPR @npr.org · 01/10/2025
Today marks the first day in public media’s history without federal funding. And we’re not going anywhere. Listeners like you keep our mission alive. Protect one of the last places where America comes together to hear itself. Stand with us today. Donate at this link: n.pr/46wamAj
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Kevin Ault @kevinault.bsky.social · 30/09/2025
"In the 17-year period, the proportion of vaccinated women who tested positive for #HPV types covered by the later 4-valent vaccine..dropped 94.2%, and fell 75.7% for types covered by the current 9-valent vaccine" #OncSky + #MedSky via @medpagetoday.com www.medpagetoday.com/pediatrics/v...
medpagetoday.com
HPV Shot May Protect Unvaccinated Women Too
'We have that potential to actually eliminate cervical cancer in our lifetimes, researcher says
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@tsmendola @tsmendola.bsky.social · 25/09/2025
Cried reading this news. It feels like we are at an inflection point for gene therapy & previously incurable diseases. I do worry about disparities in access, but that's a solvable problem if we make it one.
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ProPublica @propublica.org · 21/09/2025
Earlier this year, ProPublica found that the sepsis rate in second-trimester pregnancy loss hospitalizations increased by more than 50% under Texas’ abortion ban. Here’s how we did our analysis. (Published Feb. 2025)
propublica.org
Texas Won’t Study How Its Abortion Ban Impacts Women, So We Did
Since Texas banned abortion, no one has studied the statewide effects on pregnant women experiencing complications. Here’s how we sifted through data on millions of pregnancy hospitalizations and anal...
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Ruth Ann Crystal @drruth.bsky.social · 20/09/2025
Two babies have died of Whooping cough in Louisiana, a vaccine preventable disease. All pregnant patients and their families should be vaccinated to protect the newborn. This is Louisiana's worst Whooping cough (pertussis) outbreak in 30 years. buff.ly/pez25q3 #medsky #pedsky🛟😷
baby in a striped shirt coughing.
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@tsmendola @tsmendola.bsky.social · 19/09/2025
It’s all the same playbook.
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@tsmendola @tsmendola.bsky.social · 19/09/2025
This is a horrifying new trend.
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ProPublica @propublica.org · 19/09/2025
It's a journalist's job to ask questions of government officials, no matter which party is in power. That often means respectfully knocking on doors to get answers people deserve to know. Tips and evidence are essential to our nonpartisan work: www.propublica.org/tips/
Screenshot of post on X from VA Secretary Doug Collins. The text reads: @ProPublica is an extreme liberal news outlet that will do anything to make the Trump Administration look bad. But this week, the far-left editors there reached a new low by sending @VernalColeman to stalk @DeptVetAffairs employees at their homes. This creepy behavior will discourage good people from coming to work at VA. @ProPublica, please do better and stop letting your hatred of the Trump Administration continue to warp your judgment.
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@tsmendola @tsmendola.bsky.social · 19/09/2025
I confess myself pleasantly surprised.
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Elizabeth Jacobs, PhD @elizabethjacobs.bsky.social · 19/09/2025
It needs to be understood that every incremental step that RFK Jr. and ACIP take to create barriers against vaccination means that fewer and fewer people have access to lifesaving vaccines…until no one can access them at all. This is their plan and their desire. Don’t kid yourself.
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Ruth Ann Crystal @drruth.bsky.social · 17/09/2025
I just learned about the new US Measles Tracker from @johnshopkinssph.bsky.social and @hopkinsengineer.bsky.social. #medsky #IDsky #episky 🛟😷
graph of cumulative measles in US by year. Top is 2025 in blue and is just above 2019 outbreak in gray.US map showing measles cases. Blue is local measles spread and red is measles imported after international travel.  1474 Measles cases this year so far.
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Mindy McAdams @macloo.bsky.social · 18/09/2025
The decimation of public media in the U.S. begins here, in central Pennsylvania, with the closing of WPSU, Penn State’s NPR and PBS affiliate. web.archive.org/web/20250917...
web.archive.org
‘Never would have imagined it’: Pennsylvania NPR station set to be first to shutter following Trump’s cuts
WPSU, which has been broadcasting out of Penn State since 1953, will shut down following federal cuts to public media organizations
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Megan O'Matz @megomatz.bsky.social · 18/09/2025
State & local officials are pulling back on fluoridation in MI, FL & elsewhere, even though it is the most cost effective method to prevent tooth decay, especially for vast numbers of people in the US without insurance or access to a dentist. / by @annaleighclark.bsky.social
propublica.org
Amid Rise of RFK Jr., Officials Waver on Drinking Water Fluoridation — Even in the State Where It Started
As federal agencies review their guidance on fluoridation and the nation’s top health official calls fluoride “industrial waste,” state and local governments are pulling back on the practice, upending...
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Liz Szabo @lizszabo.bsky.social · 18/09/2025
I'm watching the ACIP meeting. #Follow along for updates. The committee will vote on whether to delay the hepatitis B vaccine for babies and whether to give the MMR (measles/mumps/rubella) and chickenpox vaccines separately.
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Carter Sherman @cartersherman.bsky.social · 18/09/2025
There's SO MUCH going on that I'm sure this news will get lost, but: Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has signed into law a first-of-its-kind bill that lets private citizens to sue abortion providers who ship pills into the state. Providers basically told me: Bring it on. www.theguardian.com/world/2025/s...
theguardian.com
Abortion pill providers targeted by new Texas law refuse ‘anticipatory obedience’
Greg Abbott’s latest move fuels clash between US red states and blue-state shield laws protecting abortion care
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@tsmendola @tsmendola.bsky.social · 18/09/2025
Bridging the gap between the outpatient, indie abortion clinic ecosystem & the hospital ecosystem in this moment is so crucial. If you’re speaking from inside an institution, please, I am begging you, bring in folks from abortion funds, indie clinics, and community care networks to speak & connect.
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@tsmendola @tsmendola.bsky.social · 18/09/2025
Dr. Emily Ager (UCSF) at #PWIMS2025 cites this key JAMA paper from 2023: pts who present to the ED for early pregnancy loss vs outpatient setting are less likely to receive active management, even controlling for patient preference. jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...
jamanetwork.com
Early Pregnancy Loss Management in the Emergency Department vs Outpatient Setting
This cohort study compares the management and outcomes of patients with early pregnancy loss who present to the emergency department vs outpatient clinics.
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@tsmendola @tsmendola.bsky.social · 18/09/2025
@darakass.com at #PWIMS2025: “If you watch #ThePitt, you know America thinks you can get an abortion in the ED. The truth is you most often can’t.” We wrote about that disconnect here: www.autonomynews.co/the-pitt-sho...
autonomynews.co
‘The Pitt’ Showed What Abortion Pill Access Should Look Like
The popular HBO show’s accidentally aspirational mifepristone plotline should inspire more emergency rooms to offer medication abortion.
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Reposted by @tsmendola
Mike.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ @dumbmike.bsky.social · 17/09/2025
𝐀𝐦𝐮𝐥𝐞𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐌𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐥 𝐈𝐥𝐥𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑚𝑜𝑛, 𝑐𝑢𝑟𝑠𝑒𝑑 After equipping this item, you may not remove it from your hand. You must gaze deeply into it with every action and be driven mad. Messages from the damned come to you in haunting whispers and chilling images. Every year, you must purchase the newest version.
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Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 17/09/2025
former CDC official Dr. Houry: "I first learned that the secretary had changed our CDC covid vaccine guidance on an X social media post. CDC scientists have still not seen the scientific data or justification for this change. That is not gold standard science."
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Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 17/09/2025
Monarez: "Kennedy demanded 2 things of me that were were inconsistent w/ my oath of office. He directed me to commit in advance to approving every ACIP recommendation regardless of the scientific evidence. He also directed me to dismiss career officials responsible for vaccine policy without cause"
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Paul Nadeau @pauljnadeau.bsky.social · 15/09/2025
I don't think fact-checking is going to get American liberalism out of its current crisis
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The New Yorker @newyorker.com · 31/08/2025
“Let’s begin by saying that we are living through a very dangerous time.” So opens “A Talk to Teachers,” which James Baldwin delivered to a group of educators in October, 1963.
newyorker.com
James Baldwin’s Lesson for Teachers in a Time of Turmoil
Rigorous lessons are not mutually exclusive from culturally and politically relevant ones.
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Susan Rinkunas @susanrinkunas.com · 15/07/2025
If any OBGYNS recently received a survey from an, uh, interesting sender and want to chat, @garnethenderson.com and I are all ears for @autonomynews.co: Signal: garnethenderson.12 susanrinkunas.73 Email: garnet.henderson @gmail susanrinkunaswrites @gmail
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ProPublica @propublica.org · 17/07/2025
NEW: Robert F. Kennedy Jr. wants to overhaul an obscure but vital program that underpins the nation’s childhood immunization system. Depending on what he does, the results could be catastrophic. By @sheinvestigates.bsky.social
propublica.org
RFK Jr. Wants to Revolutionize a Program That Supports Childhood Immunizations. The Results Could Be Catastrophic.
The Vaccine Injury Compensation Program stabilizes the nation’s childhood immunization system while paying those harmed by rare side effects. If the program topples, it could threaten access to vaccin...
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ProPublica @propublica.org · 16/07/2025
NEW: The FDA found that Sun Pharma, which produces generic drugs for U.S. consumers, failed to investigate the source of bacteria found in test vials or promptly deal with damaged equipment that had caused drugs to be contaminated with metal particles.
propublica.org
FDA Inspectors Again Find Dangerous Breakdowns at an Indian Factory Supplying Medications to U.S. Consumers
The latest inspection comes 2 1/2 years after the agency allowed Sun Pharma to keep shipping some drugs to Americans even after banning the factory from the U.S. market because of quality problems.
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Arrianna Marie Planey, PhD MA @arrianna-planey.bsky.social · 14/07/2025
"Mycoplasma genitalium (Mgen) is an old STI that we can now diagnose and treat since the first FDA test was approved in 2019, but it isn’t yet tracked by our public health surveillance systems." 1/2 www.milbank.org/2025/07/hard...
milbank.org
Hard-Won Gains Against Sexually Transmitted Infections Could Slip Away  | Milbank Memorial Fund
People of every gender, race, age, and ethnicity are affected by sexually transmitted infections (STIs). Currently, the United States is experiencing the largest epidemic of congenital syphilis since ...
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Andrea Pitzer @andreapitzer.bsky.social · 14/07/2025
If you grew up in a household with an evangelical right-wing parent, as I did, you already know that the dismantling of the U.S. Department of Education, like the reversal of Roe v. Wade, is the culmination of a 50-year project.
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Lionel Christiaen, PhD (he/him/his) @lionlchristiaen.bsky.social · 14/07/2025
Happy Bastille day 🇫🇷
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@tsmendola @tsmendola.bsky.social · 14/07/2025
Shonda gets it right sometimes!
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Autonomy News @autonomynews.co · 12/07/2025
If you liked this post, support us with a paid subscription or tip to help us keep expanding our never-paywalled coverage: www.autonomynews.co/support/
autonomynews.co
Support Autonomy News
We will never put our reporting or analysis behind a paywall. Your support makes that possible. Here are a few different ways to power our work: Become a member Support our journalism and help comb...
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@tsmendola @tsmendola.bsky.social · 13/07/2025
Proud of this one! I wrote about medication abortion in the ED and HBO’s The Pitt.
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Julia Métraux @juliametraux.bsky.social · 10/07/2025
Disabled people are 11 times more likely to die during labor/in the postpartum period than non-disabled people. Better education and smashing ableism is how we get out of this horrible stat. For the past year, I’ve been looking into the topic of disability and pregnancy for @motherjones.com 🧵
motherjones.com
Pregnancy is a minefield when you're disabled
Few OB-GYNs get disability training—and their disabled patients are far likelier to die.
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ProPublica @propublica.org · 11/07/2025
Among the waste uncovered by ProPublica and @cbsnews.com: Texas reimbursed anti-abortion groups $14 each time they handed out donated goods or materials, regardless of cost. Thus, handing out one pamphlet reaped the same payment as a pack of diapers. (Published July 2024)
propublica.org
How a Texas Program Funnels Millions to Anti-Abortion Groups With Little Accountability
Two years after Roe v. Wade was overturned, Texas leads the nation in funding for crisis pregnancy centers. The system is meant to help growing families, but it’s riddled with waste and lacks oversigh...
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@tsmendola @tsmendola.bsky.social · 11/07/2025
Buried in the middle of this essay, which on its surface is a personal and moving story about disability and family, is a family that brought a second child into the world *specifically to donate bone marrow to the first.* www.nytimes.com/2025/07/11/s...
nytimes.com
‘I Intend to Keep My Baby’
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Autonomy News @autonomynews.co · 01/07/2025
The budget bill that passed the Senate Tuesday is a chilling reminder that abortion could be rendered inaccessible across vast swaths of the country where it’s still legal—not because Congress passed a prohibition, but because too many clinics shuttered.
autonomynews.co
The Plot to Effectively Ban Abortion Nationwide Is Unfolding Before Our Eyes
Lawmakers and activists are working to shutter clinics and restrict access to abortion pills. The end result would be catastrophic.
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Susan Rinkunas @susanrinkunas.com · 27/06/2025
This is the impact of the Supreme Court gutting nationwide injunctions. I wrote about the danger of handing such power to an openly eugenic administration here: www.autonomynews.co/the-soft-eug...
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Leah Litman @leahlitman.bsky.social · 27/06/2025
Justice Sotomayor dissenting on birthright citizenship case: "The gamesmanship in this request is apparent and the Government makes no attempt to hide it. Yet, shamefully, this Court plays along. Because I will not be complicit in so grave an attack on our system of law, I dissent."
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