Stephanie Wang

Few issues in political and social discourse are as polarizing as that of abortion. Abortion policy has been shaped by influential Supreme Court decisions like Roe v. Wade, Planned Parenthood v. Casey, and most recently, Dobbs v. Jackson, each of which has presented unique viewpoints on the constitutionality of abortion in the United States.

Women grapple with many health-related issues, particularly those related to reproductive health. In this brief, we evaluate the state of women’s health in the U.S., with a particular emphasis on teen pregnancy rates, birth control access, and abortion access. We consider various social determinants of health, such as race, income, and geographic location, and analyze their impact on women’s health. We also discuss legislation aimed to improve women’s health in the U.S. and the effects that they have had.

The two most populous states in the U.S., Texas and California, have taken radically different approaches to vaccine rollout. California has centered their rollout around social equity, and has taken steps to ensure the state’s most vulnerable populations have access to vaccines. Starting March 4th, Governor Newsom’s administration moved 40% of their vaccines to communities that were most affected by the pandemic. The administration also put a hold on making vaccines publicly available until April 15th in order to prioritize at-risk populations.

The relationship between poverty and healthcare (both in quality and accessibility) has long been a subject of concern. On both the domestic and international fronts, poverty leads to environmental pressure, diminished health literacy, and financial inaccessibility, each of which detrimentally impacts healthcare quality and accessibility. In turn, the subpar healthcare services have a negative impact on economic development of impoverished areas, trapping impoverished communities in a vicious cycle. There have been policies implemented in attempts to break this vicious cycle, such as Medicaid, COBRA, HIPAA, and the ACA. However, more efforts on this front are warranted, especially those targeting quality, accessibility, and acceptability.

In the late 1990s, pharmaceutical companies assured the public that individuals would not become addicted to opioid pain relievers, and healthcare providers began to prescribe them at an increased rate. It soon became clear that these companies were misleading the public—misuse of these drugs had become a serious issue and was declared a public health emergency in 2017. In this brief, we will discuss the opioid epidemic in depth, including its beginning, its effects on public health, and its relation to COVID-19.

As the COVID-19 pandemic ravaged every corner of the world, another emerged subtly by its side: the misinformation epidemic. Within the first three months of 2020, researchers estimate that at least 800 deaths were due to COVID-19 misinformation. By July 2020, a startling 71% of Americans had heard of the widely circulating conspiracy theory that the pandemic was planned by the all-powerful. After the creation of the COVID vaccine, vaccine misinformation has been a force to be reckoned with in antagonizing the rollout of the vaccine and successful implementation of public health protocols. In the face of one of the worst public health threats in modern history, the outstanding prevalence of misinformation and the often unabashed confidence it is told is vastly detrimental to the unified goal of overcoming the pandemic and building back our society, economy, and public health infrastructure.

The development of birth control has brought about great autonomy in pregnancy planning and sexual freedom. Yet, the development of birth control in the United States is rich with trials and tribulations that continue to this day. Today, there are many forms of birth control available for men and women, and its accessibility is increasing. However, stark inequalities in birth control access still exist among various demographic groups, notably along racial and socioeconomic lines. A variety of government policies, non-governmental organizations, and advocacy groups have influenced the development and accessibility of birth control in the United States, and research continues to flourish in this area.

Alzheimer’s disease is one of the world’s most debilitating neurodegenerative diseases with about forty-four million cases globally and six million in the United States alone. Approximately one in three seniors dies with Alzheimer’s or another form of dementia, accounting for more deaths than breast cancer and prostate cancer combined. Alzheimer’s disease is a neurodegenerative disease in which nerves gradually lose their function, resulting in the inability to carry out day-to-day activities, cognitive decline, loss of memory, confusion with time or place, and trouble understanding visual images and spatial relationships. The burden of Alzheimer’s disease on public health is tremendous, but it also has implications for economic productivity and adversely affecting the general mental health of affected individuals and their loved ones.

Both structural and interpersonal racism play a major role in perpetuating the racial disparities in the American healthcare system. Racial minorities are disproportionately negatively affected by difficulties in healthcare access, treatment, and costs: all of which have consequences in the overall well-being of minority communities. In this brief, we examine the extent to which racial disparities affect American society and the efficacy of policies implemented to reduce them, such as Medicare, Medicaid, and the Affordable Care Act.

According to a January 12, 2022 article from CNBC, the WHO reports that out of 357,000 cases of COVID-19 reported in the last month, 59% were Omicron cases. In the first week of January, 15 million coronavirus cases were reported, fueled by the Omicron surge, and the United States saw 4.6 million new cases, which was a 73% increase compared to the preceding week. The United States is reporting more cases than other countries, as their 73% increase is more than the 55% global increase in coronavirus cases over the same period.

The burden of mental illness in the United States is significant - more than 50 percent of individuals will be diagnosed with a mental illness at some point in their lifetime. In addition, 1 in 25 Americans live with a debilitating mental illness such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, or major depressive disorder.

For thousands of years, humans have used selective breeding to breed animals and plants with more “desirable” or unique traits. In the early 70’s, scientists developed a way to streamline this process by manipulating DNA. The rising popularity of the fields of genetic engineering and gene therapy have been met with some serious resistance, especially in the past. ‍

The United States has a mixed healthcare system with mostly private health insurers and a public healthcare option. The U.S. is one of several countries across the world with such a system, while some other countries provide a single-payer, fully public healthcare system, and others rely on solely private healthcare. In this brief, we examine the logistics of each healthcare system, as well as their benefits and drawbacks.

A rather pervasive term in the current political dialogue, climate change has become a major focus of public policy, especially in the past few years. The United Nations defines climate change as “long-term shifts in temperature and weather patterns,” but in this brief, we will be examining the impacts of anthropogenic climate change—or, climate change exacerbated by human activity.