Women's Health Policy

ABORTION IN THE U.S.

KFF infographic explaining who regulates mifepristone, showing four entities and their roles: the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approves and regulates medications for safety and effectiveness; state legislatures pass laws that can restrict or protect access; courts rule on legal cases affecting regulation; and Congress can pass federal legislation influencing regulation.

Louisiana v. FDA: Access to Mifepristone Back at the Supreme Court

Louisiana sued the FDA in October 2025, claiming the FDA’s 2023 regulatory change eliminating the requirement that mifepristone be dispensed in-person—allowing it to be mailed or dispensed at retail pharmacies—harm the state's ability to enforce its abortion ban. This brief reviews the Louisiana v. FDA case and provides an overview of the other pending litigation involving mifepristone, as well as the mounting tension between states seeking to protect abortion and those banning the provision of abortion.

CONTRACEPTIve care IN THE U.S.

An Update on Medicaid, Title X and Planned Parenthood

This brief provides an update on Planned Parenthood clinic closures and participation in the Title X program amid substantial policy changes resulting in funding reductions. These changes include the One Big Beautiful Bill Act and the withholding of federal Title X funding to Planned Parenthood clinics.

SELECTED RESOURCES

Over-the-Counter Oral Contraceptive Pills

In July 2023, the FDA approved Opill, the first daily oral contraceptive pill to become available over the counter (OTC) without a doctor’s prescription. This issue brief provides an overview of OTC oral contraceptives and laws and policies related to insurance coverage.

featured

A promotional image for the the KFF Health Policy 101 Issues in Women’s Health chapter

Health Policy Issues in Women’s Health

Examine the core health coverage and access issues —shaped by federal and state policies—that affect women’s health today, including health coverage and costs, reproductive health services, maternal health, mental health, and intimate partner violence.

State Profiles for Women’s Health

Explore the latest national and state-specific data and policies on women’s health. Topics include health status, insurance and Medicaid coverage, use of preventive services, sexual health, maternal and infant health, and abortion policies. Many indicators provide state-level information for women of different racial and ethnic groups.

The essentials
  • Women’s Health Insurance Coverage

    This factsheet reviews major sources of coverage for women residing in the U.S., discusses the ACA's impact on coverage, and the coverage challenges that many women continue to face.
  • Medicaid Coverage for Women

    This data note presents key data points describing the current state of the Medicaid program as it affects women, including eligibility, reproductive health, chronic conditions, and more.
  • Dobbs: What are the Implications for Racial Disparities?

    This analysis examines the implications of the Dobbs decision and state restrictions on abortion coverage for racial disparities in access to care and health outcomes.
  • State Health Facts: Women's Health Indicators

    Information on women’s health status, utilization of services, health insurance coverage, family planning and childbirth, and abortion statistics and policies.
  • Key Facts on Abortion in the United States

    This report answers some key questions about abortion in the United States and presents data collected before the overturn of Roe v. Wade.

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  • Overview: 2017 Kaiser Women’s Health Survey

    Issue Brief

    The Kaiser Family Foundation has conducted the Kaiser Women’s Health Survey approximately every four years since 2001 to provide a look into the range of women’s health care experiences, especially those that are not typically addressed by most surveys. The findings presented in this report examine women’s coverage, access, and affordability of care, their connections to the health care delivery system and use of preventive care, use of reproductive health services, and responsibilities caring for…

  • Further Findings from Kaiser’s June Health Tracking Poll: Women’s Issues

    Feature

    The latest Kaiser Health Tracking Poll examines the public’s attitudes, with a focus on views of women ages 18-44, toward several key women’s issues including workplace protections and reproductive health – as well as the role that these issues may play in the 2018 midterm elections.

  • Health Affairs Blog: The Myth Of The Abortion Insurance Rider

    Perspective

    In a Health Affairs blog post, Laurie Sobel, Caroline Rosenzweig and Alina Salganicoff of the Kaiser Family Foundation discuss the feasibility of abortion riders to private group and individual health plans as a means of providing access to abortion coverage when states ban the coverage as part of an insurance plan. They summarize their 2018 analysis that these amendments are virtually non-existent.

  • Four in 10 Women Voters Age 18-44 Are “More Enthusiastic” to Vote in Mid-Terms This Year, Almost Three Times Higher than the Last Mid-Term

    News Release

    With the 2018 primary election season concluding in August and the general congressional mid-term election season ramping up, Kaiser Family Foundation polling finds younger women (ages 18-44) voters are more enthusiastic about voting this year than in previous mid-term elections. In a new data note about KFF’s June Health Tracking Poll that is focused on women voters’ influence in this year’s elections and beyond, the 39 percent of younger women voters expressing “more enthusiasm” is…

  • The Lasting Impacts of Abortion Bans

    Quick Insights

    Recently courts in North Dakota and Georgia overturned the states’ abortion bans. The impact of these reversals, however, may be short lived, as is the case in Georgia.

  • ACA Preventive Services at the Supreme Court

    Quick Insights

    If the Court rules in favor of Braidwood, private health insurers would no longer be required to cover, without cost sharing, certain preventive services recommended by USPTF after 2010 when the ACA was enacted.