Greetings!
Here’s another late nite Health Wednesday newsletter. These will have to start coming earlier for my own health!
Understandably this week’s letter took a back seat to reporting on yesterday’s election results. But those results, plus the spectacular news of the unprecedented leak of a draft opinion in the Mississippi abortion law case that points to the imminent overthrow of Roe v. Wade and a woman’s constitutional right to choose, illustrate the nexus between your health and your politics.
The evidence is there for all to see: if you care about your community, you need to be involved in politics. If you care about education, you need to be involved in politics. If you care about your basic freedoms, you need to be involved in politics. And if you care about your health, you need to be involved in politics.
What’s going to happen if/when Roe is overturned? More than half of the nation’s states would be expected to ban abortions. Ohio would be in line for further abortion restrictions if not an outright ban.
Meanwhile, as we continue trying to find our way through the COVID maze of restrictions, reports, and recommendations, we continue to learn how the disease is affecting different sections of our population. Unsurprisingly, teenagers are a cohort whose lives have been especially uprooted by COVID. As a group they are high energy, more eager to be socially active, and less likely to have developed self-control. Taken together, those traits are a recipe for immense frustration when confronted by public health practices that limit travel and human interaction, and restrict or close activities and venues. The result is increased stress and a depreciation of teen mental health. Read about it here.
Next week a major health conference is coming to town. We will share the details tomorrow.
As always, thanks for reading.
Be well.
Note, if you work in the health space, and have an announcement you'd like us to include for Health Wednesday, our weekly deadline is the preceding Friday at 5p.
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