Last week, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs terminated union contracts for most bargaining-unit employees, stripping labor protections for about 400,000 workers. Friday’s rally was part of a national day of action called “Stand for Veterans, Stand for Unions.”

Texas Democrats gathered with Planned Parenthood affiliate leaders Wednesday in Chicago to highlight Illinois’ role in providing reproductive care for Texas patients and to warn how the dismantling of sexual and reproductive care in Texas threatens access in other states.

Federal funding cuts and allegations of mismanagement prompted the closures of most operations at Weiss Memorial Hospital in Uptown, while Oak Park’s West Suburban Medical Center is facing a similar fate.

Health care leaders across Illinois are sounding the alarm over a new federal law slashing Medicaid, warning it could force hospital closures and gut care for vulnerable residents. They’re now racing to protect services and preserve access in the face of deep funding cuts.

Two of the most closely followed measures aim to protect the drinking water of a wide swath of central Illinois and boost the pension benefits for first responders in Chicago.

Gender-affirming care includes a range of medical and mental health services to support a person’s gender identity. It includes counseling and treatment with medications that block puberty, and hormone therapy to produce physical changes, as well as surgery, which is rare for minors.

Some Chicago hospitals that have been on the forefront of providing gender-affirming care to patients under the age of 19 have pulled back on those services.

If approved, the wide-ranging changes unveiled this month also would affect working conditions at constructions sites and in mines, and limit the government’s ability to penalize employers if workers are injured or killed while engaging in inherently risky activities such as movie stunts or animal training.

Sexually transmitted infections and unintended pregnancies are particularly common for college-aged people. A 2023 report from the CDC found that nearly half of all reported cases of chlamydia, gonorrhea and syphilis were among people aged 15 to 24.

At least two dozen bills have been introduced across 15 states this year. Most of the legislation is related to insurance coverage for menopause care, awareness and education, clinician training or menopause in the workplace.

For nearly a decade, national guidelines have recommended introducing safe forms of peanut-containing foods to infants to help reduce allergy risk; however, a new study by Northwestern Medicine found that many families aren’t receiving that guidance from their pediatrician.

With funding at risk, hospitals are warning they might have to close — and leave communities without badly needed access to care.

Nearly 30,000, or more than 40%, of Planned Parenthood of Illinois patients use Medicaid to access health care services at Planned Parenthood’s health centers, according to the organization.

Officials are warning that millions of Americans could lose their insurance under changes in the law — including 330,000 people in Illinois who could be impacted by changes to Medicaid. However, Republican lawmakers say the changes are aimed at eliminating waste, fraud and abuse in the system.

Congress on Thursday passed President Donald Trump’s so-called “Big, Beautiful Bill,” which the president is expected to sign into law. The tax and spending plan cuts federal funding for services such as food aid and Medicaid, as well as Planned Parenthood.

A study published Monday in The Lancet estimates that the USAID funding cuts could result in more than 14 million additional deaths by 2030. Nearly a third of those deaths – more than 4.5 million – are estimated to be among children younger than 5.