Who Gets to Decide? Power, Pills & the Politics of Women’s Health

✨ This Week: Whose Choices Count?

Whether it’s fibroids or antidepressants, too often women are offered one-size-fits-all answers to deeply personal questions. But what happens when we start asking better ones?

From the FDA’s mixed messages on SSRIs in pregnancy to the hidden barriers shaping fibroid care, this week is all about power, perception, and who gets to decide what’s “best” for women’s health.

🎥 New Video: SSRIs in Pregnancy: What the FDA got right and wrong in a heated 3.5-hour panel

🔴 July was Fibroids Awareness Month. Let’s Break the Silence: Why hysterectomy is still the default—and what needs to change

🧠 What’s Catching My Eye: Ashton Applewhite on aging, Stephen Colbert on grief, and a parody that actually made me laugh out loud

Let me know what resonates—and what makes you think differently.

MENTAL HEALTH

🤰 What the FDA Got Wrong—and Right—on SSRIs in Pregnancy

TL;DR:
The FDA hosted a panel in July 2025 to explore the safety of SSRIs (antidepressants) during pregnancy. It was supposed to be a scientific discussion. It turned into something messier—and more revealing.

I watched the entire 2-hour session and pulled out the nuance the media headlines missed. The result? A 17-minute video breaking it all down—from clinical science to the real-world struggles women face.

🎥 Watch the video →

What happened

The FDA brought together researchers, psychiatrists, OB-GYNs, and critics of SSRI use to debate the safety and ethics of antidepressant use during pregnancy. The panel featured diverse voices—but not all of them represented the scientific consensus.

What was supposed to be a conversation about risk-benefit turned, at times, into a referendum on the legitimacy of mental health care itself.

Why it matters

1. Mental health isn’t treated like physical health.
   One OB-GYN said it best: “We don’t debate insulin in pregnancy. Why SSRIs?” Others disagreed—raising concerns about social isolation, overdiagnosis, and pharma influence.

2. Women are caught in the middle.
   They’re told to get help—but offered little beyond pills or stigma. Meanwhile, access to therapy is limited, OB-GYNs aren’t mental health experts, and informed consent is confusing at best.

3. This isn’t just about medication.
   It’s about how we define depression, how rushed our system is, and how few tools women are given to truly understand their options.

💡 My Take

This panel wasn’t perfect—but it did surface important questions we all need to grapple with. What is mental health? Who gets to define it? And are we giving women the care—and autonomy—they deserve?

I break down the key tensions in this 17-minute video. No shouting, no oversimplification—just the real issues women face, and what the system refuses to fix.

🎥 Click here to watch →

NOTE: The YouTube description includes several organizations’ reactions to the hearing for your reference.

👉 I’d love your thoughts on this one.

CHRONIC PELVIC PAIN

📣 July Was Fibroids Awareness Month

TL;DR:
Hysterectomy shouldn’t be the default treatment for uterine fibroids—but many women are never told they have options. In this article, I break down the treatments beyond hysterectomy, structural barriers to care, and how we can fix a system that leaves too many women in the dark.

👉 Read the full article: Breaking the Silence on Uterine Fibroids

Why this matters:

• Uterine fibroids affect up to 80% of women by age 50

• They’re the #1 reason women undergo hysterectomies

• Yet 20% of women think hysterectomy is the only treatment, and nearly half don’t know about UFE, a less invasive alternative

Why you need to know:

• Treatment choice should reflect your values, not your doctor’s specialty or financial incentives

• Minimally invasive options like UFE and myomectomy can preserve fertility and reduce recovery time

• Many women—especially Black women—face delayed diagnosis, biased counseling, and lack of access to specialty care

What we can do:

• Push for multidisciplinary care models that include interventional radiology, not just OB-GYNs

• Educate patients and providers about all ACOG-approved options, not just the most common

• Advocate for better reimbursement structures so less invasive treatments aren’t overlooked

✊ Women deserve informed consent—not default surgery.
📖 Read the full article

🙌🏼 What Caught My Eye This Week

🧓 Afraid of Aging? Watch This.
Ashton Applewhite’s TED Talk is a must-watch if you’ve ever felt uneasy about growing older. It’s bold, funny, and will completely reframe how you think about aging.
👉 Watch the talk

😂 May We All Work Like This
This workplace game is pure chaos—in the best way. Everyone brings in something ridiculous, fills their mouth with water, and tries not to spit it out from laughing. Absolute gold.
👉 Watch on Instagram

💬 Stephen Colbert on Suffering
A powerful, moving interview clip where Colbert shares his view on grief, meaning, and how suffering shapes us. Worth sitting with.
👉 Watch on Threads

🎭 Relatable Parody of “Perfect Life” Videos
You know those impossibly aesthetic reels that make you feel like you’re failing? This hilarious parody flips the script—and finally shows what most of us are really doing.
👉 Watch on Facebook

🌱 Garden Hacks That Actually Spark Joy
Need a little inspiration for your backyard (or windowsill)? These clever, creative gardening tricks are oddly satisfying to watch—and might even get you outside.
👉 See the hacks on Threads