News

Surrogacy goes more mainstream

By Carly Mallenbaum, Axios [cites Emily Galpern] | 03.29.2026

More Americans are turning to surrogacy to build their families, as the practice becomes more common and more publicly discussed.

Why it matters: As surrogacy becomes more visible and accessible, ethical, legal and cultural tensions become harder to ignore...

U.S. Federal

Eugenics and the Modern Synthesis, Part I

By Jessica Riskin, Los Ángeles Review of Books | 03.23.2026

This is the first part of the 14th installment in the Legacies of Eugenics series, which features essays by leading thinkers devoted to exploring the history of eugenics and the ways it shapes our present. The series is organized by...

Civil Society

Surrogacy laws are all over the map

By Carly Mallenbaum, Axios [cites Surrogacy360] | 03.29.2026

Without a federal law, surrogacy in the U.S. is governed by a patchwork of state regulations/

Why it matters: Confusing...

Policies

Project Eugenics: The Rollback of Disability Rights

By Kiana Jackson and Shannon Stubblefield, New Disabled South | 02.09.2026

"MC0_8230" via Wikimedia Commons licensed under CC by 2.0 

This report documents a deliberate assault on disabled people in...

U.S. States
rainbow Israeli flag

Israel’s high court opens the way for same-sex couples to have children via surrogacy

By Claire Parker, Washington Post | 07.11.2021

Photo by Ted Eytan on Flickr

A decision by Israel’s supreme court Sunday paved the way for same-sex couples to...

Policies
DNA test tube

What does the Chinese military want with your unborn baby’s genetic data?

By Arwa Mahdawi, The Guardian | 07.10.2021

Your unborn baby is already being monetized

Could data harvested from millions of pregnant women pave the way for genetically...

Society
FDA sign and building

The FDA Is Broken

By Shannon Brownlee and Jeanne Lenzer, Washington Monthly | 07.10.2021

Between 2010 and 2015, drug companies submitted data to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for three different drugs...

Society
California State Capitol Building

California once forcibly sterilized people by the thousands. Now the victims may get reparations.

By Derek Hawkins, Washington Post | 07.09.2021

A brutal chapter in American history began in 1909 with the stroke of a doctor’s pen.

California’s eugenics law, enacted...

Eugenics
'black women's lives matter' on a sign during a protest

Banning Abortion Doesn’t Protect Women’s Health

By Michele Goodwin, New York Times | 07.09.2021

Photo by Max Bender on Unsplash

During its coming term, the Supreme Court will review the constitutionality of a Mississippi...

Eugenics
The California state capitol building

California to pay victims of forced, coerced sterilizations

By Adam Beam, AP | 07.07.2021

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California is poised to approve reparations of up to $25,000 to some of the thousands of...

U.S. States

Ohio Will Now Allow Doctors to Refuse Treatment to LGBTQ+ Patients Over Religious Beliefs

By Nico Lang, them. | 07.07.2021

Ohio will now allow medical providers to refuse treatment that violates their religious beliefs after conservatives snuck language into the...

U.S. States

China’s gene giant harvests data from millions of women

By Kirsty Needham and Clare Baldwin, Reuters | 07.07.2021

A Chinese gene company selling prenatal tests around the world developed them in collaboration with the country's military and is...

Genomics