From the Supreme Court down to county government, voters across this state — including in places where conventional wisdom said we shouldn’t win — made clear that people want a government that works for them, a judiciary that protects their rights, and leaders who actually show up. Tuesday delivered all three, and bigly.

This is a special edition of the newsletter. I want to celebrate these wins, tell you what they mean, and make sure you understand: what happened in Wisconsin this week matters far beyond our borders. Let’s get into it.

CHRIS TAYLOR: A MANDATE, NOT JUST A MAJORITY

Wisconsin voters elected Judge Chris Taylor to the state Supreme Court, expanding the liberal majority to five justices and cementing that control until at least 2030.

But the number that stopped me in my tracks? Taylor won by 20 points — an overperformance of 21 points compared to 2024’s Democratic presidential results, and 10 points above the last Supreme Court race, which was also won by a liberal candidate, Susan Crawford (I’m sure you remember the time Elon tried to buy Wisconsin). In a year when the majority wasn’t even technically on the line, Wisconsin sent a roaring, unmistakable signal.

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Taylor described her campaign as one about energizing ordinary Wisconsinites. “People are hungry for a government that works for them,” she said. “People are hungry for a judiciary that protects our rights, that affords all Wisconsinites equal justice under the law.”

That’s the kind of court language I want to hear. The Wisconsin Supreme Court under liberal control has reversed several election-related rulings — including one that overturned a ban on absentee ballot drop boxes — and is expected to weigh in on critical voting rights and labor cases ahead.

I sat down with Judge Taylor earlier this year for a full conversation about what’s at stake for Wisconsin’s courts, reproductive rights, and democracy itself. If you haven’t watched it yet, go watch it:

This is our fourth consecutive Supreme Court win. That is not a coincidence, and it is not small. This court will help shape who holds power in Wisconsin for the next decade.

ALICIA HALVENSLEBEN: FLIPPING WAUKESHA

Let’s talk about what happened in one of Wisconsin’s deepest red strongholds.

Alicia Halvensleben, the Democratic president of Waukesha’s Common Council, defeated state Rep. Scott Allen, a result that signals a political shift in the suburbs — the WOW suburbs. Halvensleben received 51.2% of votes to Allen’s 48.7%.

Waukesha is the seat of Waukesha County, which has long been a center of conservative activism and has helped fuel statewide wins for Republicans in closely divided Wisconsin. Trump carried the city itself by six points in 2024. Alicia won it anyway.

Her victory statement said everything: “This campaign has always been about our community: about listening, showing up, and doing the work to keep our city moving forward.”

That’s the blueprint. Not ideology as a cudgel — community as a foundation. And it worked.

Waukesha wasn’t the only telling flip. Up in River Falls, voters made a similar statement, sending their own message that the map is expanding and no community is written off.

I interviewed Alicia during the campaign and was struck immediately by how deeply she understands what Waukesha needs and how clearly she articulates a vision for getting there.

Go watch it — she’s the real deal, and she’s going to be an extraordinary mayor.

RACHEL MAES: WINNING IN OUR OWN BACKYARD

I have to be honest with you: this one hit differently.

Rachel Maes — Green Bay city attorney, trans woman, and now Brown County Supervisor-elect for District 2 — ran her race right here in our backyard. She ran it with a clear, practical vision for what county government can do for real people. And she won.

She ran in Brown County. She ran as herself. She ran against the culture war noise and she beat it — with competence, with vision, and with the confidence that voters respond to candidates who treat them like adults.

I’m going to be sitting down with Rachel very soon for a full conversation, and I cannot wait to share it with you. Her story is one of this week’s most important and one of my favorite — and I want to give it the space it deserves. Stay tuned.

ABRAHAM AND I BROKE IT ALL DOWN LIVE

Today I sat down with my son Abraham for our first live conversation on Substack, and it’s one you’re going to want to watch.

Abe and I were actually together Tuesday night at Chris Taylor’s election party, watching those results come in in real time. So by the time we went live today, we’d had two days to let it all sink in, and the conversation was richer for it. We didn’t just talk about the numbers. We talked about what this moment means on a much bigger scale: what a sustained pattern of Democratic overperformance in Wisconsin tells us about where this country is heading, what the path to November looks like from here, and what’s ultimately at stake for the generation that’s going to inherit all of this, including Abe.

If you missed it live, go back and watch it. And if you have young people in your life who are paying attention right now, this is a good one to share with them.

WHAT WISCONSIN SAID THIS WEEK

Let’s zoom out for a moment, because the data matters.

Taylor’s 20-point margin is not a fluke — it represents real, sustained overperformance in a state Trump won in 2024. Wins in Waukesha and River Falls signal that the suburban shift is real and durable, not a one-cycle anomaly. Halvensleben’s victory continues a trend of Democrats winning mayoral races in traditionally Republican areas, especially since the Trump presidency.

The engagement is there. The appetite is there. And while spring elections historically attract a more motivated, tuned-in electorate, these margins suggest something structural is moving.

Wisconsin voters will select a new governor in November to replace Tony Evers, the Democratic incumbent who is not seeking a third term. Democrats are hopeful about winning state legislative majorities — BOTH houses — in November for the first time in 16 years, and are also eyeing two Republican-held congressional seats. Maybe three.

November is not guaranteed. Nothing is. But Tuesday proved that Wisconsin is not the state the national map thinks it is, and that organized, energized, community-rooted campaigning wins races that look unwinnable from the outside.

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YOU’RE PART OF THIS

If this week lit a fire in you — if you watched these results come in and thought I want to be part of what comes next — I want to hear from you.

Whether you want to canvass, donate, organize in your community, or just figure out where you fit in the work ahead, reach out. I am actively building something in northeast Wisconsin, and the people who show up now are the ones who shape what it becomes.

The blue wave doesn’t build itself. It’s built by people who decide it’s worth their time and their energy — AND THEN SHOW UP!

Wisconsin showed up on Tuesday. Let’s keep going.

— Dr. Kristin

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Judge Chris Taylor: State Courts Are the Last Line of Defense

I recorded this conversation with Wisconsin Supreme Court candidate Judge Chris Taylor back in February — before the rhetoric got heated, before the ads got ugly, before this race became a national flashpoint. What you’ll hear is something rarer: a real conversation about who she is, where she came from, and what she’s actually running to do.

Her path to this ballot is not a typical one. She spent years as the public policy director at Planned Parenthood Wisconsin, lobbying on what she describes as “the hardest issues in politics” — reproductive healthcare, sexual assault protections, domestic violence prevention. When Scott Walker’s Act 10 passed and the political ground shifted under everyone’s feet, she ran for State Assembly with a newborn and a four-year-old at home. She won. She served nine years fighting for working families and authored landmark legislation protecting survivors of violence. Then Governor Evers appointed her to the circuit court, she won election to the Court of Appeals, and now she’s running for the state’s highest bench.

In our conversation, we dig into what it means to move from advocacy to lawmaking to the judiciary, and whether that experience makes you a better judge or compromises your impartiality. We talk about the cases already heading toward Wisconsin’s Supreme Court: challenges to union-busting laws, redistricting fights that will shape representation through 2030, and the flood of Trump administration policies landing in state courts across the country. We explore how state constitutions often provide stronger protections than federal law, and why that distinction matters more right now than it ever has.

This race isn’t just about Wisconsin. Between 2023 and 2025, Wisconsin made national headlines twice: first by flipping its Supreme Court to a liberal majority for the first time in 15 years, then by defending that majority against Elon Musk’s $22 million spending spree. Both races shattered records. Both became tests of whether grassroots organizing could overcome dark money. Both succeeded. Now Judge Taylor is running to expand that majority from 4-3 to 5-2, not just to hold the line, but to build something durable enough to withstand the next decade of attacks on abortion rights, voting rights, and democracy itself.

If you’re watching Trump-era policies roll out and wondering where the resistance is going to come from, state courts are a big part of the answer. This conversation will show you why.

And if you caught the debate clip making the rounds — the moment where things got heated — that’s on Instagram. It says everything about this race right now.

THE ANNIVERSARY THEY DON’T WANT YOU TO REMEMBER

March 31st came and went quietly for most people. But not for me.

That date marked the 177th anniversary of Wisconsin’s 1849 criminal abortion ban, the very law I sued the state over. The law that had been sitting on the books for more than a century and a half, waiting for Roe to fall so it could spring back to life and make criminals of doctors like me. The law that threatened my ability to care for my patients, endangered lives, and told women in this state that their bodies were subject to 19th-century criminal code.

We won. Wisconsin has abortion access today because of that lawsuit. But that ban is still on the books. And there are people in this state — on ballots right now — who would love nothing more than to activate it again.

Which is exactly why Tuesday, April 7th, matters so much. The Wisconsin Supreme Court is the last line of defense against laws like that one. A court that will protect us is the difference between doctors being able to do their jobs and doctors facing prosecution for providing essential medical care. That is not an abstraction. I have lived it.

WHY WISCONSIN IS THE WHOLE GAME

This state gave the country Robert La Follette, the great progressive reformer who spent his career fighting “the encroachment of the powerful few upon the rights of the many.” Then it gave the country Joe McCarthy, whose Red Scare crusade ruined lives and poisoned the Senate until his own colleagues finally censured him. Then it gave the country William Proxmire, the fiscal watchdog who won a Senate seat by walking every county in the state and refused to take a dime of special interest money. And today it sends to Washington both Tammy Baldwin — one of the most progressive senators in the country — and Ron Johnson, one of the most extreme. In the same state. At the same time.

That is not confusion. That is Wisconsin. We have a significant bloc of independent voters who are genuinely persuadable, who prioritize issues over party loyalty, and who have swung between some of the most dramatically different leaders in American political history. That makes us unpredictable. It also makes us winnable.

And you know what they say: as goes Wisconsin, so goes the nation.

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WHAT’S GROWING IN NORTHEAST WISCONSIN

Here at home, I want to highlight something that’s easy to miss if you’re only watching the big races.

Rachel Maes is running for Brown County Supervisor — and her story is one that says a lot about this moment in northeast Wisconsin.

Rachel grew up right here in Green Bay, graduated from Southwest High School, went on to UW-Madison and Hamline University School of Law, and then came back home. She’s a local attorney, a mom of three, and deeply embedded in the nonprofit community through board leadership and volunteer work. Her priorities — housing, transparency, accountability, justice — are the bread and butter issues that actually shape people’s daily lives at the county level. She is exactly the kind of candidate this community produces when it’s functioning the way it should.

And if she wins on Tuesday, Rachel will be the first transgender person ever elected to a county position in Wisconsin. That is a historic milestone — and it’s happening here, in Brown County, in a race grounded entirely in local issues and community relationships. That’s how change actually works.

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More broadly, something has shifted in local races across Wisconsin this cycle. School board and city council contests — the ones that extremist groups like Moms for Liberty spent years flooding with candidates and cash — are seeing far less of that energy. Fewer far-right challengers. Less coordinated outside money. These movements haven’t disappeared, but they appear to be losing momentum, and communities are filling that vacuum with neighbors who actually want to govern rather than obstruct.

ON WOMEN BEING USED AND DISCARDED

I have to say something about Pam Bondi and Kristi Noem.

Bondi is the second Cabinet member fired by Trump, and her departure mirrors Noem’s, who was let go the month before. Both were loyalists. Both were true believers. Both did everything that was asked of them.

Trump called Bondi a “Great American Patriot” and a “loyal friend” — and offered no specific reason for her removal. What we know is that she wasn’t willing — or able — to go far enough in prosecuting his political enemies. That was her sin. She just wasn’t ruthless enough in service of him.

This is the pattern. Women in MAGA world are instruments. They are useful until they aren’t, loyal until loyalty isn’t enough, obedient until obedience fails to produce the desired result. Then they are thanked for their service and shown the door.

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This is not incidental to what MAGA believes about women. It is what they believe about women. Our bodies, our votes, our labor, our loyalty — all of it is a resource to be extracted. The moment we stop being useful, we are expendable.

Bondi and Noem made their choices. But the lesson here isn’t about them — it’s about the system they served. A system that has never once believed women deserved power for its own sake.

GO VOTE. (AND THEN CALL YOUR FRIENDS.)

If you live in Wisconsin — this is it. Tuesday, April 7th. Find your polling place, bring a neighbor, make a day of it. Voting is an act of joy. It is the thing they cannot take from us as long as we keep showing up to do it.

And if you’re outside Wisconsin, you are not off the hook. You know someone here. Text them. Call them. Send them this newsletter. Wisconsin keeps deciding things for the whole country, and right now the whole country needs us to get it right.

See you on the other side of Tuesday.

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But the number that matters most isn’t the total headcount. It’s where people showed up. Two-thirds of registered events were outside major urban centers. Small towns in Idaho, Wyoming, Montana, and Utah. Rural communities in Louisiana and South Dakota. Competitive suburbs in Pennsylvania, Georgia, and Arizona. Places nobody expected. Places that don’t make the protest narrative easy to dismiss.

The White House called it a “Trump Derangement Therapy Session.” But you can’t explain away Driggs, Idaho — population under 2,000, Trump carried the state with 66% of the vote — showing up for No Kings. That’s not a coastal phenomenon. That’s a country reckoning with itself. And in eight days, Wisconsin gets its turn.

This Week on the Show: Watch Waukesha

I sat down with Alicia Halvensleben, candidate for mayor of Waukesha — and I want you to understand why this conversation matters well beyond Wisconsin’s borders.

Waukesha has been one of the reddest cities in one of Wisconsin’s reddest counties for decades. George W. Bush carried it by 21 points in 2004. Scott Walker won it by 32 points in 2014. But last year, liberal Judge Susan Crawford won outright in the city of Waukesha — against Elon Musk’s candidate, Brad Schimel, who called this county home.

Something is happening here.

Alicia has spent a decade building Democratic infrastructure in Waukesha County from almost nothing. She knocked doors when people whispered, “Don’t tell anybody, but I’m the Democrat on the street.” She took on an incumbent for an aldermanic seat and won. She became Common Council President. And when one of the most extreme members of the Wisconsin State Assembly announced he was running for mayor — a man who sided with election deniers, proposed arming teachers, and made national news for a Black History Month list that was mostly white people — her phone blew up and she decided to run.

This race is technically nonpartisan. It is anything but.

If Alicia wins on April 7, it will send shockwaves through Wisconsin politics — and offer a clear warning signal to Republicans heading into the November midterms. Political analysts are already calling it a canary in a coal mine. Watch Waukesha.

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From Northeast Wisconsin: The School Board Races Are Different This Year

Let’s talk about down-ballot races for a moment — because this is where the real canary lives.

School board races are low-turnout, low-attention, and historically underfunded. That’s exactly why groups like Moms for Liberty targeted them. Inserting disruptor candidates into races most people don’t pay attention to is a feature, not a bug. It’s how you get a toehold on local politics, local policy, and local power — quietly, cheaply, and effectively. We saw that playbook executed aggressively in recent cycles, and it worked in communities across the country.

This cycle is different. Here in northeast Wisconsin, we’re seeing fewer candidates who appear to be running on the politics of MAGA rather than the actual business of running a school district. The disruptor energy that defined recent school board races is notably quieter. Candidates seem to be focused on curriculum, budgets, and kids — which is, of course, the entire point.

That matters beyond the school board. These races are a leading indicator. When that kind of organized disruption loses its appetite for down-ballot fights, it tells you something about the momentum — or lack of it — heading into the fall.

The dark money mailers have still returned, and they’re more extreme than ever. But they’ve taken on an almost comical tone. When your messaging reads like a parody of itself, the movement is losing the plot.

Stay alert. But take note of what you’re not seeing this cycle. That’s data too.

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The SAVE Act: What They Say vs. What It Actually Does

You’ve heard MAGA call it common sense. You’ve heard the White House call it bipartisan. You’ve heard the talking point that voter ID is broadly popular with the American public. That may be true (depending on how you define it). But voter ID is not what this bill is. Not even close. Let’s talk about what the SAVE Act actually contains — because the gap between the talking points and the text of this legislation is staggering.

The bill — formally the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act — requires every American to provide documentary proof of citizenship to register or re-register to vote. Not a standard driver’s license. Not a REAL ID. Not a military ID. Not a tribal ID. Not a student ID — even one issued by a state university. For most people, that means a passport or a certified birth certificate. A passport costs a minimum of $165. A certified birth certificate runs $10 to $50 depending on the state. Replacing a lost naturalization certificate costs $1,385.

An estimated 21.3 million voting-age Americans either don’t have a proof-of-citizenship document or don’t have easy access to one. Approximately 146 million Americans do not possess a valid passport. And 84 percent of women who marry change their surname, meaning as many as 69 million American women do not have a birth certificate that matches their current legal name.

Here’s what it would do to how you register: online voter registration — which 42 states currently rely on — would be upended or eliminated. Mail registration would effectively end. If you register by mail, you’d then have to appear in person at your election office with qualifying documents before the deadline. Currently, only 6% of voters register in person at an election office. Voter registration drives — the kind held at churches, college campuses, and community events — would be functionally eliminated, because nobody carries a passport or birth certificate to a farmers market.

And here’s what they really don’t tell you: the requirement doesn’t just apply to new registrants. It applies any time a voter updates their registration — including after moving, changing their name, or switching political parties. Every single one of those transactions, which tens of millions of Americans make every election cycle, would require an in-person trip to an election office with original documentation.

Now let’s talk about what this does to the people running our elections. This bill is an unfunded mandate. States and localities would bear the entire cost of implementing these sweeping new requirements — overhauling online registration systems, training staff to verify documents they are not equipped to authenticate, and absorbing the legal liability that comes with the bill’s criminal penalties for election officials who register someone who fails to provide adequate documentation. Even if voters were to provide documentary proof of citizenship, verifying the authenticity of those documents is an inherently complex task that election officials and motor vehicle departments often do not have the resources or training to perform.

It gets worse. Under the SAVE Act, every single state would be required to submit its voter registration list to the Department of Homeland Security for comparison to the agency’s error-ridden database. This is not a neutral data-sharing exercise. The legislation places no restrictions on what the federal government can do with the sensitive data once DHS receives it, and includes no safeguards against using that data to force voter purges or unduly question election results. We already know the Trump administration has sought to access state voter rolls through DOGE. This bill would make that access mandatory.

And then there are the purges. The legislation would mandate voter roll purges every 30 days, placing enormous burdens on election officials and ending the 90-day quiet period that currently protects voters from being mistakenly removed from the rolls right before an election.

The bill would also prohibit universal mail voting, requiring all mail voters to submit an application in order to receive a mail ballot — ending the longstanding primary method of voting in eight states and Washington, D.C. Even Donald Trump, who recently voted by mail in Florida, would be affected by this measure.

They say this is about preventing noncitizen voting. Utah recently performed one of the most comprehensive citizenship reviews ever conducted, examining more than 2 million registered voters. They found one confirmed instance of noncitizen registration and zero instances of noncitizen voting. Noncitizen voting has been a federal crime since 1996, carrying serious penalties including fines, imprisonment, and deportation. The system is already working.

The problem they’re solving doesn’t exist. The chaos they’d create is very real, very deliberate, and falls hardest on young voters, voters of color, married women, rural voters, elderly voters, and low-income voters — in other words, anyone who might not vote the way they want.

Voter ID is popular. Voter suppression dressed up as voter ID is something else entirely. Don’t let them conflate the two.

Democracy Is Local — And the Power Is in Your Hands

Here’s something worth understanding about how elections work in Wisconsin. We are one of the most decentralized states in the country when it comes to election administration. Responsibility doesn’t sit in some distant state agency. It sits with individual clerks — your clerks, in your municipality, in your community. People who live where you live, accountable to you, running your elections.

That’s not a vulnerability. That’s a feature. There’s no single lever for bad actors to pull. And it means your participation is not abstract — it is direct.

But this isn’t just a Wisconsin story. Across the country, the same forces that brought millions into the streets this past Saturday are showing up in school board races, city council chambers, and mayor’s offices. The same legislation designed to make it harder to vote is moving through Congress. The same dark money that flooded local races in recent cycles is already reloading for the fall. What happens in these spring elections — in Wisconsin and in communities across the country — sends a signal about what November looks like.

Local elections are where democracy lives. And right now, they’re where the fight is.

If You’re in Wisconsin — Make Your Plan

April 7 is eight days away. Early voting has already started. You can preview your ballot, find your polling place, check your registration, and get answers to most of your voting questions at myvote.wi.gov. Use it. Share it.

Look up every race on your ballot — not just the ones getting attention. Your school board. Your city council. Your mayor. These are the races that shape your daily life and signal what’s coming in November.

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If You’re Not in Wisconsin — You Still Have a Role

Do you have family in Wisconsin? Friends? Former colleagues? Now is the time to reach out. Not to lecture — just to connect. Ask if they know what’s on their ballot on April 7. Share myvote.wi.gov. Remind them that early voting is already open. A simple text, a phone call, a social media message — it costs nothing and it matters more than you think.

The people in the streets this past Saturday understood something important: this movement doesn’t belong to any one state. Wisconsin is a bellwether. What happens here on April 7 tells the rest of the country something real about where we’re headed. Help make sure the right story gets told.

Watch Wisconsin. And help Wisconsin show up.

See you next week and, in the meantime, you can pretty much find me everywhere!

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Wisconsin Finally Gets It Right

Two pieces of legislation were signed into Wisconsin law this week and I am still celebrating — because my patients, my friends, and families across this state have been waiting for both of them for far too long.

Wisconsin becomes the 49th state to extend postpartum Medicaid coverage.

Yes, you read that right. We were 49th. But, after 7 years of fighting for it, we finally got there.

For years, Wisconsin was leaving new mothers behind at one of the most vulnerable moments of their lives. Under the old framework, Medicaid coverage ended 60 days after delivery — just as postpartum depression peaks, just as new complications emerge, just as exhausted new parents are barely keeping their heads above water. Extending that coverage to a full year isn’t just good policy. It’s humane.

This is what advocacy looks like when it works. And it’s worth saying out loud: this happened because so many people — doctors, moms, legislators, doulas, and more — pushed for it and wouldn’t give up until it got done.

Gail’s Law: breast cancer screening for high-risk women in Wisconsin.

This one is personal for me in a different way. As a clinician, I have sat across from patients and friends who fell into the gap that Gail’s Law is now closing. Women who have dense breast tissue, a family history, a genetic variant — women who knew their risk was elevated — and who couldn’t access the supplemental screening that could have caught something early.

Dense breast tissue is incredibly common. It’s found in nearly half of women who get mammograms (including me), and it’s an independent risk factor for breast cancer. It also makes standard mammography less sensitive, meaning tumors can hide. Women with dense breasts and other risk factors have long needed additional imaging: ultrasound, MRI, or other tools. But without coverage, that screening was often out of reach.

Gail’s Law, named after Gail Zeamer — a tireless advocate who was diagnosed with stage 3 breast cancer in 2016 and died in 2024 —changes that. It requires insurance coverage for supplemental breast cancer screening for high-risk Wisconsin women. It is a direct, concrete intervention that will save lives — lives of women who, like Gail, might not have been diagnosed until it was much harder to treat.

I think about the patients I’ve seen over the years who would have benefited from this. The friend who found out too late. The woman who did everything right and still got caught without coverage. For them — and for the women who will now get screened who might not have been — this is a real win.

Thank you for your advocacy, Gail. This one is quite literally for you.

Meet the pediatrician Lindsey Graham should be very worried about

The latest episode of “The Dr. Kristin Lyerly Show” is live on YouTube @drkristinlyerly, and it’s one I’ve been really excited to share.

Dr. Annie Andrews of South Carolina is running for U.S. Senate, and she is one of the most compelling voices I know at the intersection of medicine and politics. And if she wins — which I believe she can — she will be the first pediatrician ever elected to the U.S. Senate.

We covered a lot of ground in this short conversation. Her opponent, Lindsey Graham, has been in Washington so long that he’s become a caricature of disconnection from the people he’s supposed to represent. We talked about his role in beating the drum for war with Iran — this is a man who has consistently pushed for military escalation abroad while the people of South Carolina deal with very real crises at home. Dr. Andrews sees that clearly, and she said so.

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Speaking of crises at home: South Carolina is in the middle of a measles outbreak. As a pediatrician, Dr. Andrews lives this differently than most candidates would. She didn’t just talk about it as a policy issue — she talked about it as a doctor who has watched vaccine-preventable disease make a comeback in real time, in her own state, because public health has been systematically undermined. It was one of the most grounding moments of the conversation.

And then — because this show contains multitudes — she told us about the Taylor Swift fandom she shares with her daughter. It was exactly the kind of moment that reminds you there’s a full human being behind every candidate, and why that matters.

This is the kind of conversation I started this show to have. Watch it.

The Republican Party’s Abortion Medication Problem

Something significant is happening on the right, and I want to make sure you’re paying attention to it.

Senator Josh Hawley has introduced legislation to remove FDA approval for mifepristone — one of the two medications used in medication abortion, miscarriage management, and other medical conditions. His effort to restrict or eliminate access to this medication isn’t new. But what is new is the response from within his own party.

Republican lawmakers are increasingly unwilling to be on the record against abortion medication. The politics have simply become too toxic. In state after state, we’ve seen what happens when abortion restrictions go to the ballot — voters reject them, sometimes in deeply red states. Medication abortion is even more politically treacherous for Republicans, because restricting it means restricting miscarriage care and reaching into the most private moments of people’s medical lives.

The fractures within the GOP on this issue are real and deepening. That doesn’t mean mifepristone isn’t in danger — it is, and we need to keep fighting. But it does mean that the political consensus behind these attacks is much weaker than it looks on the surface.

Check out this reel that I made with my colleagues at the Committee to Protect Health Care for more:

IVF is on the line. Here's what we can do.

Last week I had the honor of being an invited speaker at the Pacific Coast Reproductive Society (PCRS) Annual Meeting — a professional medical society for specialists involved with reproductive medicine, including IVF. This is a place where some of the most skilled people in my field come together and where, as a general OB-GYN, I felt genuinely welcomed.

My talk focused on the political and legal threats facing reproductive medicine right now — IVF, embryo storage, personhood legislation, and what happens to patients and providers when lawmakers who don’t understand medicine start writing healthcare law. But more than just naming the threat, I wanted to leave everyone in that room with something actionable.

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Because here’s the thing I keep coming back to: there are things that every single one of us can do. You don’t have to run for office. You don’t have to testify at a legislative hearing (though I’d love it if you did). You don’t even have to be visible. There are concrete, low-barrier steps that physicians, nurses, embryologists, and patients can take to push back — donate, sign up for legislative alerts, VOTE! — and those steps matter more right now than they ever have.

I’m incredibly grateful to the PCRS family — including President Dr. Jason Franasiak and incoming program chair Dr. Lusine Aghajanova (pictured) for creating the kind of environment where these conversations happen, and I’m excited to say: this isn’t the last you’ll hear about our collaboration!

Let’s Stay Connected

If this newsletter is useful to you, the best thing you can do is share it with someone who needs it.

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This has been one of those weeks. And I’m here to share it with you.

“I really hope my legislators don’t want people to die”

I’ll start where the stakes are highest.

Earlier this week, a bill that would have classified abortion as criminal homicide — making women in Tennessee eligible for the death penalty for ending a pregnancy — failed in a Republican-led House subcommittee. It died not with a vote, but in silence: the committee called the bill, heard nothing, and moved on. Supporters responded by singing hymns in the hallway.

I want you to hold those two things at the same time.

The bill would have treated an abortion the same as criminal homicide, penalizing women who have abortions, including those who travel out of state for treatment of dangerous pregnancies. Doctors. Drivers. Anyone in the chain of care. All of them exposed to criminal prosecution. And while the bill failed this time around, the matter is far from settled.

On the same day, the same subcommittee also killed the Maternal Health Protection Act — a Democratic measure that would have simply prevented providers from turning patients away. In Tennessee in 2026, both of those things happened on the same afternoon.

I needed to talk to someone living this from inside a hospital. Dr. Nikki Zite is a board-certified OB/Gyn practicing in Tennessee, and she joined me for one of the most important conversations I’ve had on this show. She spoke about what it means to practice medicine when the law has already restructured clinical decision-making through fear. About colleagues who have left the state. About students who won’t train there. About patients who delay care because they’re afraid of being reported.

And she said something that I haven’t been able to stop thinking about:

“There’s no malpractice for legislators.”

That’s the asymmetry at the heart of all of this. Physicians are held to the highest standard of professional accountability. We can lose our licenses, face civil suits, be criminally prosecuted. The people writing laws that override our clinical judgment face NONE of that. They can be catastrophically wrong — and patients can die — and there is NO MECHANISM FOR ACCOUNTABILITY.

Watch the full interview on YouTube. Then share it. Because the more people understand this, the harder it is to look away.

In Washington, D.C. — the ACOG Congressional Leadership Conference

I was in Washington, D.C. this week for the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists’ Congressional Leadership Conference, where physicians from across the country gathered to make the case directly to lawmakers for evidence-based healthcare policy.

We advocated for two pieces of critically important bipartisan legislation. The first is the Supporting Healthy Moms and Babies Act, which would eliminate out-of-pocket costs for prenatal, delivery, and postpartum care — because no family should be put into medical debt for the act of having a baby. The second is the Improving Seniors’ Timely Access to Care Act, which would modernize and streamline the prior authorization process in Medicare Advantage, ensuring that patients receive timely, high-quality care without being buried in bureaucratic delays that have nothing to do with medicine and everything to do with cost-cutting.

Both bills are bipartisan. Both are grounded in evidence. Both represent exactly the kind of healthcare policy that physicians and patients should be able to agree on, regardless of politics. Physicians are showing up with data, with patient stories, with clinical evidence. And we are hopeful that, even in the least productive Congress in modern times, we might actually get somewhere.

This is why ACOG’s advocacy work matters. The medical community’s voice in these policy debates is not optional. It is essential.

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“Abortion in America” — and someone you need to know

I also attended the “Abortion in America” convening in New Orleans, which brought together advocates, litigators, physicians, patients and others to share our stories and the important work happening across the country to restore and protect reproductive healthcare access. This organization is part of Cecile Richards’ legacy, which adds a whole other layer of meaning for me.

I want to tell you about someone I met there — Emily Waldorf, one of the courageous plaintiffs in the lawsuit challenging Arkansas’s near-total abortion ban.

The women who brought this case had complicated pregnancies. Their circumstances required medical intervention. And Arkansas’s law — which is written so vaguely that, even in medical emergencies, doctors fear prosecution carrying up to $100,000 in fines and 10 years in prison — prevented them from getting that care close to home.

Emily, the lead plaintiff, could not get care after her water broke early in her pregnancy. She hired a lawyer, who persuaded the hospital that her life was in danger, and the hospital responded by sending her by ambulance to Kansas for the procedure she needed. Theresa Van was told she was going to lose her baby, but doctors would not intervene because — although there was no amniotic fluid present — the fetal heart was still beating. The delay turned her routine care into a high-risk procedure. Allison Howland became pregnant after a sexual assault. Arkansas has no rape or incest exception, so she traveled to Illinois for care, hoping the fetal remains would provide DNA evidence of her attacker, but Little Rock police told her they couldn’t maintain chain of custody since they couldn’t send anyone to Illinois. Right.

These are not rare situations. They are the direct and predictable consequences of laws written without medical input, enforced without clinical nuance, and insulated from accountability. Meeting Emily in person — putting a face and a voice to a story I’ve been telling in the abstract — was one of the most grounding experiences I’ve had in this work. We can’t, and won’t, give up on the people of Arkansas when they need us the most.

On the Crisis Pregnancy Center Investigation

My recent Substack piece on the States Newsroom investigative series into crisis pregnancy centers has inspired some folks who run these facilities to speak out and share their experiences, and their comments are worth a read.

Dr. Kristin Lyerly

They Look Like Clinics. They Are Not. And You Are Paying For Them.

Something happens in my exam room that I think about often…

Read more

a month ago · 10 likes · 3 comments · Dr. Kristin Lyerly

To be clear, I honestly do believe that some people get the care they need at these centers. But the deception/coercion, lack of medical and privacy standards, and taxpayer funding are all HUGE concerns that need to be addressed in a transparent manner, especially if our goal is healthy moms, babies, and communities of people.

As a reminder, the States investigation exposes how taxpayer dollars are flowing to facilities that are not medical clinics — that are not required to employ licensed providers, do not offer comprehensive reproductive healthcare, and in some cases actively provide medically inaccurate information to vulnerable patients while putting their privacy at risk.

As someone who has spent her career in evidence-based OB/Gyn care, I cannot overstate how dangerous this is. And the Arkansas plaintiffs’ stories are a reminder of what happens when patients are steered away from real medical care — whether by law or by a well-funded network of fake clinics.

Wisconsin Is Not Watching From the Sidelines

And then there’s home.

I recently joined the Paging America podcast alongside my friend and host Miles Baker AND Wisconsin Supreme Court candidate Judge Chris Taylor for a conversation about what’s at stake for reproductive rights and much more in Wisconsin — and why judicial elections matter as much as any legislative race right now.

Wisconsin’s experience with the 1849 criminal abortion ban — and the litigation required to quiet it — is just one flavor of what other states are navigating. Judge Taylor understands this. The conversation we had about the intersection of the judiciary, reproductive healthcare, and democracy is one I think every Wisconsin voter needs to hear, especially with the election just a few short weeks away.

The Wisconsin Supreme Court is not an abstraction. It is the institution standing between the people of this state and the laws that would endanger them, especially at this time in history. Who sits on that court matters enormously — and this election is an opportunity to make sure the right people do, for years to come.

What All of This Adds Up To

Tennessee. Arkansas. Washington. Wisconsin. The Abortion in America conference. The ACOG Congressional Leadership Conference. Crisis pregnancy centers taking taxpayer money. Plaintiffs traveling by ambulance across three states for emergency care. This is not a collection of isolated state-level stories. It is a coordinated national movement, operating simultaneously across legislatures, courts, federal agencies, and the network of crisis pregnancy centers that has been quietly built with public money.

The people fighting back — Dr. Nikki Zite seeing patients in Tennessee, the Arkansas plaintiffs who turned their trauma into a lawsuit, the physicians showing up in Congressional offices, the judges running for state supreme courts — are doing so at real personal and professional cost.

The least the rest of us can do is pay attention. Share this. Subscribe if you haven’t. And show up.

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Dr. Kristin Lyerly is a board-certified OB-GYN in Wisconsin, Chair of the Committee to Protect Healthcare, and a member of the Executive Board of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.

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A patient comes in — sometimes early in a pregnancy, sometimes with questions about their options, sometimes frightened and unsure what to do next. And somewhere in that conversation, they mention they already went somewhere. They saw an ultrasound. They talked to someone. They thought they were getting medical care.

They weren’t.

They had been to a crisis pregnancy center. And what happened there — what they were told, what they weren’t told, and what was done with the private information they shared — was nothing like what happens in a real clinical encounter.

This is not a fringe issue. This is not a niche policy debate. This is something that is happening to patients across the country, right now — funded with your tax dollars, operating in your community, and deliberately designed to look like something it is not.

States Newsroom just published the first article in a landmark 50-state investigation into crisis pregnancy centers: Taxpayer dollars flood pregnancy centers. Oversight hasn't followed. I was interviewed as part of the reporting. I want to use this moment to give you everything you need to understand what’s at stake.

First: What Is a Crisis Pregnancy Center?

A crisis pregnancy center — sometimes called a pregnancy resource center, pregnancy care center, or CPC — is an organization that advertises free pregnancy tests, free ultrasounds, and pregnancy-related support services. They are typically located near actual reproductive health clinics. Their signage, their websites, and their advertising are often deliberately designed to look like medical facilities.

They are not medical facilities.

The vast majority are faith-based nonprofits whose explicit mission is to discourage people from choosing abortion or using contraception. They are not required to have licensed medical staff on site. They are not required to follow the same standards of care as an OB-GYN practice or a Planned Parenthood clinic. They are not required to provide medically accurate information. And — critically — they are not bound by the same patient privacy laws that govern every real healthcare provider you have ever seen.

The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists has been unambiguous: crisis pregnancy centers endanger public health by causing critical delays in people accessing legitimate medical care. That is not a political statement. That is a clinical one.

The Money

Here is where things get enraging.

States Newsroom conducted a 50-state investigation analyzing state and federal budgets and the tax records of more than 1,600 crisis pregnancy center organizations. What they found: nearly $1.3 billion in local, state, and federal government grants were awarded to crisis pregnancy centers between 2019 and 2024. The actual number is likely higher — digital records are incomplete.

Twenty-one states sent nearly $491 million in taxpayer dollars to these organizations between just 2022 and 2025.

Texas — already one of the largest funders — has increased its allocation to $180 million for 2026 and 2027. Missouri has budgeted nearly $50 million since 2022, and is diverting TANF funds to pay for it. TANF. The federal program designed to provide temporary assistance to families in poverty. That money is going to organizations that hand out diapers in exchange for Bible study attendance.

This explosion in funding happened in direct response to Dobbs. The moment the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in June 2022, conservative-led states accelerated their investment in crisis pregnancy centers as an explicit substitute for the reproductive healthcare they had just eliminated.

And oversight? Almost nonexistent. In Missouri, a lawmaker actively blocked a proposal to require centers to report how they spend public money, saying he didn’t want to “verify what programs work.” In Texas, investigations by ProPublica and CBS News found centers billing the state for more than services cost and pocketing the surplus. Two centers used government reimbursements to finance real estate purchases. One spent public funds on vacations, a motorcycle, and a smoke shop operated by its own CEO.

This is where your money is going.

The Patient Safety Problem

I want to be very direct about what I see clinically when patients have been to a crisis pregnancy center before they come to me.

Delays in care. When someone believes they have already received a medical evaluation, they may wait longer before seeking real care. In pregnancy, timing matters enormously. Early prenatal care identifies risks. Early options counseling ensures patients can make informed decisions within the windows available to them. Delays have consequences.

Misinformation to correct. Crisis pregnancy centers have a well-documented history of providing patients with medically inaccurate information — including false claims about links between abortion and breast cancer (no such link exists), false claims about fetal pain at early gestational ages, and exaggerated descriptions of abortion risks. When patients arrive in my office having been told these things, I have to undo that harm before I can even begin to provide real care.

Coercion and pressure. Patients have described being shown graphic imagery, being told their pregnancy is further along than it is to narrow their options window, and being emotionally pressured during vulnerable moments. This is not counseling. This is manipulation.

Inappropriate procedures. Some crisis pregnancy centers offer ultrasounds performed by staff who are not licensed diagnostic sonographers. An ultrasound is a medical procedure. Its interpretation requires clinical training. When it is used not as a diagnostic tool but as an emotional intervention designed to dissuade someone from a decision they are legally entitled to make, it is being weaponized — not practiced.

None of this is hypothetical. This is what my patients have experienced.

The Privacy Problem Nobody Is Talking About Enough

This is the piece that I think gets the least attention, and it may be the most insidious.

When you go to your OB-GYN, your information is protected by HIPAA — the federal law governing the privacy of your medical records. Your provider cannot share your health information without your consent. There are rules, there are consequences for violations, and there is a legal framework designed to protect you.

Crisis pregnancy centers are not bound by the same framework. They are not clinical providers in the HIPAA sense. When you walk into a crisis pregnancy center and share information about your pregnancy, your relationship, your circumstances, your fears — you are not in a protected medical encounter. You are talking to a faith-based nonprofit organization, and what they do with that information is governed by far fewer rules than you think.

In an era when data about pregnancy and reproductive decision-making has been used in criminal prosecutions — when period tracking apps have been subpoenaed, when digital footprints have been weaponized in states with abortion bans — the privacy practices of crisis pregnancy centers should alarm every single person who values the confidentiality of their health information.

People walk into these centers in their most vulnerable moments. They deserve to know that what they share there is not protected the way they assume it is.

Why This Is Happening — and What They Want You to Think

The crisis pregnancy center industry has been extraordinarily effective at one thing: messaging. They have positioned themselves as compassionate alternatives to “abortion providers.” They use language like “life-affirming care” and “pregnancy support.” They argue that they fill gaps in the social safety net for women who choose to continue pregnancies.

That framing is deliberate. And it is working.

Because when you frame a fake clinic as a community resource, you make it harder to question. When you frame accountability as hostility, you insulate yourself from oversight. And when you pour $1.3 billion in government money into that infrastructure, you make it extraordinarily difficult to dismantle — even when the evidence of harm is clear.

The Alliance Defending Freedom — the same Christian legal organization that helped overturn Roe v. Wade — is now actively promoting legislation in multiple states called “CARE Acts” that would prevent state governments from regulating crisis pregnancy centers at all. Let that sink in. They want to make it illegal for states to impose accountability on organizations receiving public funds to provide fake healthcare to vulnerable patients.

This is not about protecting women. This is about institutionalizing a deception.

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What You Can Do

Know what to look for. A real reproductive healthcare provider will have licensed clinical staff. They will provide medically accurate information about all of your options — including abortion and contraception. They will not pressure you toward a particular decision. They will not withhold information. If a facility can’t tell you clearly whether they provide referrals for abortion services, that is a red flag.

Share this information. Most people do not know what crisis pregnancy centers actually are. The deception works because it is sophisticated and well-funded. The antidote is information.

Pay attention to your state budget. Across the country, these funding decisions are being made in budget processes that receive very little public scrutiny. Your state legislators are deciding right now whether to send public money to organizations that have no obligation to provide you with real medical care.

Support investigative journalism. The States Newsroom investigation that prompted this post is exactly the kind of accountability reporting that changes policy. Read it. Amplify it. This is part one of a series — there is more coming.

A Note From Your Doctor

I have spent my career fighting for patients’ right to access real, comprehensive, evidence-based reproductive healthcare. I sued to restore abortion access in Wisconsin. I serve on the Executive Board of ACOG and Chair the Board of the Committee to Protect Health Care because I believe the medical profession has an obligation to speak clearly when patients are being harmed.

Crisis pregnancy centers harm patients. They do it quietly, in the language of compassion, with the backing of hundreds of millions in public dollars and the protection of powerful legal organizations. They do it to people who are scared and vulnerable and deserve better.

As long as they exist in their current form — unregulated, publicly funded, and deliberately deceptive — they are a threat to every patient who walks through their doors.

I will be covering every installment of this investigation. Because this story is not going away. And neither am I.

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Read Part One of the States Newsroom investigation here: Taxpayer dollars flood pregnancy centers. Oversight hasn't followed.

Dr. Kristin Lyerly is a board-certified OB-GYN in Wisconsin, Chair of the Committee to Protect Health Care, and a member of the Executive Board of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.

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This Week on “The Dr. Kristin Lyerly Show”

We tackled a question that’s been nagging at all of us: who do you actually trust anymore?

When CBS pulled Stephen Colbert’s segment - not because it was wrong, not because it was harmful, but to cave in to political pressure dressed up as an FCC concern that legal experts say doesn’t even apply - it sent a chilling message about whether legacy media could be trusted anymore. And into that vacuum? TikTok influencers with ring lights and varying degrees of expertise (or not), speaking with the confidence of someone who absolutely knows what they’re talking about.

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To help think through this, I brought in someone with a front-row seat to all of it: my son Abe, a Gen Z middle school teacher who navigates this landscape every single day - both in his own life and in his classroom. What he shared about how he and his students are consuming media was equal parts illuminating and sobering. These kids aren’t passive consumers. They’re swimming in content, and they’re making judgments about credibility in real time, often without the tools to do it well. Abe’s perspective reminded me that this isn’t just a media problem or a political problem. It’s an education problem. A public health problem. A democracy problem.

As a physician, I think about this constantly. My patients are navigating the same fragmented, often weaponized information environment. So how do you find voices you can trust? We talked through that this week - and I’d love for you to share this episode with someone in your life who’s struggling to sort signal from noise.

“Tell Me Everything” with John Fugelsang

Speaking of people worth trusting - I had a fantastic conversation this week with John Fugelsang on his SiriusXM show. We marked one year of RFK Jr. at HHS, and... we covered a lot of ground. From the genuine undermining of public health infrastructure in this country to - I'm not making this up - RFK Jr. and Kid Rock working out together in jeans in a sauna for an Instagram video. John is one of the sharpest interviewers I get to talk to on behalf of the Committee to Protect Health Care, and our conversations leave me feeling a little smarter and looking forward to next time.

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Wisconsin Had a Week

Here’s the thing about misinformation: it doesn’t just live on your phone. It shapes policy. It elects - and protects - politicians who block the kind of evidence-based governance that keeps people alive. Which brings me to Wisconsin.

Governor Tony Evers delivered his final State of the State Address this week, and he went out in classic style: declaring 2026 the “Year of the Neighbor”, stating his intention to address gerrymandering by calling a special session of the legislature (in the middle of campaign season), and announcing a forthcoming executive order for Wisconsin to join the World Health Organization. In a political moment defined by retreat from global cooperation and hostility toward public health institutions, that’s not just a statement. It’s a declaration of values.

Then came the Wisconsin State Assembly…finally.

Speaker Robin Vos - who has ruled his caucus with an iron fist for nearly two decades, blocking progress at every turn in a state that is far more progressive than its gerrymandered legislature suggests - announced he will not seek reelection. And it was like someone opened a window.

Almost immediately afterwards, the Assembly passed postpartum Medicaid extension, ensuring new moms have healthcare coverage when they need it most. They also passed Gail’s Law, guaranteeing coverage for breast cancer prevention and treatment. These are lifesaving bills that have been sitting there, waiting, while Vos held the door shut and his caucus genuflected. Not anymore. THIS is what Wisconsin has been waiting for.

Oh, and one note I will not be letting go of: the only Assembly member to vote against postpartum Medicaid - against healthcare for new mothers - was my representative, Shae Sortwell. Here in the 2nd Assembly District, WE will be remembering it come November.

From the ACOG Desk

This week, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) released updated guidance on maternal immunizations - and it connects directly to everything we’ve been talking about.

With RFK Jr at the helm of our federal healthcare agencies, misinformation is on the rise, and it is affecting real decisions made by real pregnant people about their own health and the health of their babies. That’s not abstract. That’s dangerous. We live in an environment where national health guidance shifts and people reasonably don’t know what to believe anymore. Into that chaos, ACOG is holding the line on science, and that matters enormously.

So let’s be clear about what the evidence says. If you are pregnant during fall or winter, you should receive both the annual flu vaccine and the COVID-19 vaccine. If you meet criteria, the RSV vaccine is also recommended. Every pregnant person should receive a Tdap vaccine - protecting against tetanus, diphtheria, and pertussis - ideally between 27 and 36 weeks, during each pregnancy (it’s for the baby!). And depending on your individual health history, age, and risk factors, your ob-gyn may recommend additional vaccines as well.

These are not political recommendations. They are evidence-based, peer-reviewed, and designed to keep you and your baby alive. As an ACOG leader, I am proud to be part of an organization that refuses to let politics override science - because in the end, that’s exactly what trustworthy medicine looks like.

The Part That Filled My Heart

I cannot stop thinking about Alysa Liu.

Her gold medal figure skating performance at the Olympics - the disco music, the crowd’s response, the absolute fearlessness - I keep coming back to one word: joy. Radiant, uncontainable joy. The kind that cuts right through the noise. (And if you’re not familiar with her backstory, right from even before the VERY beginning, you will want to check it out.)

And then this weekend, I got to see that same joyful energy closer to home at my youngest son James’ high school show choir competition - shout out to De Pere High School Jam Session! These kids, and every one of the hundreds of students who took the stage from all over the state gave everything they had. The room was buzzing with that particular electricity that only happens when everyone present is rooting together for the same thing.

We spend so much time in this work fighting things that shouldn’t exist, pushing back against forces that want to drag us backward, trying to figure out who and what to believe. So when joy shows up - in a sequined skating dress or a high school gymnasium - I say: let it in. All the way in. It’s not a distraction from the work. It’s the reason we do it.

Something Is Coming

I’ve been hinting at this for a little while, and I’m not quite ready to spill everything - but big changes are around the corner the show, this newsletter, and this community. Stay tuned. You’re not going to want to miss what’s next!

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Judge Chris Taylor is running for Wisconsin Supreme Court, and I’ll be honest—I came into this conversation knowing her record and already impressed. I left it moved.

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Chris has had a passion for standing up against injustice since childhood, and you can trace that directly to the women who shaped her. Her grandmother was a single mother who raised three kids pretty much on her own, and was able to do it because she had a good union job. That’s not a small detail. That’s the whole story. A woman with economic security and dignity, who passed those values down through generations. Chris watched that, absorbed it, and built a career around it.

She went from private practice law to serving as Public Policy Director for Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin, where she fought hard for the Compassionate Care for Rape Victims Act, landmark legislation ensuring that survivors of sexual assault have access to emergency contraception. Think about what it takes to move that kind of policy in Wisconsin. Think about who you have to be willing to fight, and what you have to be willing to endure. And that was just one of her many successes in this role.

Now she’s running to maintain the pro-democracy majority on Wisconsin’s Supreme Court, and the stakes couldn’t be higher. Voting maps. Abortion rights. Election results. The independence of the judiciary itself. She was direct about what she sees as one of the most critical duties ahead: ensuring that judges’ orders are actually followed, and that the other branches of government are held accountable when they aren’t. In the current moment, that’s not a theoretical concern, it’s the ballgame.

But what I didn’t expect was what she shared about this campaign on a personal level. She lost her mother in October. And she wondered, understandably, how she would manage to be on the trail, talking to strangers, making the case for her candidacy, while carrying that grief. What she found surprised even her. Spending time with people across Wisconsin—people who are showing up for their communities, who are uplifting each other, who believe things can be better—has, in her words, “really healed my heart.”

“It’s the people. It’s being with the people of Wisconsin.”

She and her campaign manager, Ashley, have been singing Pete Seeger’s “We Shall Overcome” in the car as they drive around the state, meeting people. And somehow that doesn’t sound corny when you understand the grandmother, the union job, the rape survivors she fought for, the mother she lost, and the Wisconsinites who are healing her while she fights for them.

This Week on Social Media

Two moments from this week captured something essential about where we are as a country:

Pam Bondi refused to turn around. Let me give you the full picture of why that image is so damning.

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Bondi is Donald Trump’s Attorney General, and she was called before the House Judiciary Committee to answer for how the DOJ has handled the release of the Epstein files. Remember, this is a huge collection of information that Trump and his allies drove into the public consciousness for years, using it as a political weapon, stoking speculation and outrage. Bondi herself was fanning those conspiracy flames as recently as a few months ago.

Now that the files are actually being released? The story that’s emerging isn’t the one they were selling. What’s becoming clear is that the DOJ has handled this investigation irregularly and inappropriately—failing to protect survivors while perpetrators on American soil face no accountability. Other countries are moving forward with consequences. The United States is not.

So there sat Pam Bondi, called to answer for all of it, with survivors standing behind her in that hearing room. And she wouldn’t turn around. Wouldn’t look at them. Kept her back to the very people whose suffering was exploited for political gains and then abandoned when the politics shifted.

That’s not an oversight. That’s a declaration. Her loyalty is to Donald Trump—not to survivors, not to justice, not to the American people who were manipulated by the very conspiracy machine she helped run. The refusal to turn around wasn’t just symbolic. It was the whole truth of where her allegiances lie, made visible in a single moment.

And let’s not forget Ron Johnson getting fact-checked in real time. Wisconsin’s conspiracy theorist senator was spouting his usual disinformation during a Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee hearing when Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison responded, calling out the lies directly as an act of “political theater”, prompting Johnson to uncomfortably mutter “you disgust me”. It was a welcome and much needed reminder that sometimes the most important thing public servants can do is refuse to let falsehoods stand unchallenged, even—especially—when they come from colleagues. And it’s about time somebody did it.

Raw Art at Stevens Point

This week I also got to be a mom—which, honestly, felt like exactly the antidote the moment called for.

My son Lindsey is a student at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, and last weekend he performed alongside a handful of his talented colleagues in something called Fringe Festival: seven short plays, all written, directed, and acted by students. No outside material. No professional polish. Just young artists making the work entirely their own.

It was wonderful. Entertaining, insightful, and genuinely diverse in voice and perspective reflecting the full range of what this troupe of young actors is capable of. The audience was fellow students, fans, and families, and the energy in that room was something you don’t manufacture.

Driving home, I kept thinking about what made it feel so different from so much of what we consume. And I think the answer is that it was raw art—no tickets to upsell, no ads to serve, no alternative message lurking underneath. Just the artists and their heartfelt work, offered freely to the people in front of them.

In a week full of people refusing to turn around, it was something to watch a group of young people stand up on a stage and give everything they had, without asking for anything back.

The Through Line

Pam Bondi won’t turn around. Ron Johnson won’t face the facts. And then there’s Chris Taylor, who has spent her entire career turning TOWARD the people everyone else was willing to look away from—rape survivors, workers who needed union protections, Wisconsinites who need an independent court that actually enforces its own rulings.

And then there’s a group of students in Stevens Point who got up on a stage this week with nothing to sell and everything to give.

We talk a lot about rebuilding trust in institutions. But trust is rebuilt the same way it’s lost: one choice at a time. One moment where someone either turns to face you, or doesn’t.

Chris Taylor has been turning toward people her whole life. Her grandmother showed her how. And now, in the middle of grief, she’s finding that Wisconsin is turning toward her too.

The students at Stevens Point did the same thing, in their own way. So did Keith Ellison.

That’s what this week was about.

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Think about it: Wisconsin Republicans are retiring rather than facing voters. They know the reckoning is coming. They spent 15 years forcing their will on our bodies, our families, our healthcare decisions - and now they’re fleeing before we can vote them out.

Meanwhile, the resistance shows up in every form: Lizz Winstead using comedy as a weapon. Bad Bunny closing with a message that love is more powerful than hate. Communities like Minneapolis holding the line against ICE.

The thread this week is this: Those who abuse power eventually run. Those who resist through joy, solidarity, truth-telling, and community - we stay. We don’t retire. We don’t hide. We dance with Bad Bunny and we laugh with Lizz Winstead and we show up in Minneapolis and we call out dangerous legislation and we remember who hurt us.

They’re running because they know what you know: November is coming. And we remember.

But I’m getting ahead of myself…

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This Week on “The Dr. Kristin Lyerly Show”

This week, I had the pleasure of sitting down with Lizz Winstead - co-founder of The Daily Show, comedian, and founder of Abortion Access Front - to talk about something I believe deeply: comedy is part of the Resistance.

Lizz shared the unlikely aha moment that spawned the Daily Show, how she discovered Rachel Maddow, and the necessary work they do at Abortion Access Front. Her new podcast, Feminist Buzzkills, is essential listening for anyone serious about abortion advocacy. If you’re not subscribed, fix that immediately.

We also indulged in a little mutual love for Minneapolis, a city that continues to be under siege by ICE. This conversation reminded me why humor matters—because joy is defiance, and laughter is oxygen when the work gets hard.

Social Posts This Week

Threads: The community was very interested in this reality check: “Wisconsin Republican State Senators are retiring en masse rather than face voters after years of attacking our reproductive freedom. They know exactly what November brings. Wisconsin voters remember.” The energy in the comments is what we have been seeing all over the country in election after election, including recent big wins in Texas and Louisiana - Americans have had enough of the Trump regime’s shenanigans. It’s time to elect leaders who work for the PEOPLE.

Instagram: @jonathanjacobs89 and I collaborated on a reel featuring Rep. Jasmine Crockett who eviscerated Congressional Republicans claiming to be protectors of girls and women yet failing to demand the full, appropriately redacted release of the Epstein files. Jonathan hits the nail on the head - this is “performative masculinity” at it’s worst.

Have you heard about the bill advanced by Republicans in the Wisconsin Senate that would require patients to undergo unnecessary cesarean deliveries? Well, @pullupspastapolitics and I just happen to have collaborated on a reel about it! Let me be crystal clear: SB553 is a dangerous bill that risks the health, lives, and future fertility of women and represents a new, more nefarious way to interfere in our individual medical decision-making. Just when you think you have hit rock bottom with these guys, they create a new low. (Please reference the Threads post above for the “hope” connection here.)

Powerful work and exciting news from ACOG!

I spent a few days in Washington, D.C. with fellow leaders from the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, working together in support of our colleagues and patients. (There was also a chance encounter with Dr. Oz, but that’s a story for another day.)

From education to advocacy and all of the infrastructure that binds this organization and our members together, I’m really proud of how far we have come and, most importantly, where we are headed. Speaking of which, this year is the 75th anniversary of ACOG and the one and only Michelle Obama will be our keynote speaker for the Annual Clinical and Scientific Meeting in May. Hey fellow Fellows, NOW would be the perfect time to make your plans to join us!

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A Moment of Joy

Finally, how about that Bad Bunny concert in the middle of the football game? What a beautiful, joyful celebration of this flavorful slice of our American culture. My friend Sylvia @tono.latino was absolutely right - understanding the words didn’t matter, I just HAD to dance!

Bad Bunny saved the best for last, closing with a unifying and important reminder: “The only thing more powerful than hate, is love.”

That’s the truth we’re building on. That’s the energy we’re bringing to this fight.

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This week on the show, I had the honor of speaking with Amanda Zurawski, one of Time Magazine’s 2025 Women of the Year. If you don’t already know Amanda’s story, you should. She experienced a devastating pregnancy loss in Texas - a hard fought, much wanted pregnancy that ended in sepsis and life-threatening complications because doctors’ hands were tied by the state’s abortion ban. Instead of receiving the care she needed when she needed it, she was forced to wait until she was sick enough to qualify for an exception. The trauma was unspeakable. The injustice was inexcusable. The repercussions for her future fertility are ongoing.

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But Amanda didn’t just survive - she transformed her pain into purpose. She became the lead plaintiff in Zurawski v. Texas, taking on the state’s draconian abortion laws, and then she made a documentary about her experience: Zurawski v Texas. She’s traveled the country sharing her story, testified before Congress, and spoke at the Democratic National Convention. She’s turned her personal tragedy into a national movement for reproductive justice.

Our conversation explored what it takes to live through trauma in the public eye, why patients’ stories are our most powerful advocacy tool, and how we keep fighting when the losses pile up. Amanda’s resilience is extraordinary, and her message is clear: this is what happens when politicians play doctor.

ACOG Refuses to Surrender

The Guardian published a powerful piece this week: “Meet the OB/Gyns fighting back against Trump’s ‘guerrilla war on science’”. It features the historic decision by the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) to reject federal funding rather than compromise their members’ ability to provide evidence-based, lifesaving care to our patients.

“I feel like we’re seeing a lot of organizations, medical and otherwise, cave. We certainly saw a lot of legal organizations caving early. I’m proud ACOG didn’t,” said Dr Kristin Lyerly, a Wisconsin-based OB-GYN and ACOG member. The group, she said, “declined federal funding so that they could continue to do their life-saving work, work that saves moms’ lives”.

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Let me be clear about what this means: ACOG is choosing patients over politics. Refusing to let this administration dictate how we practice medicine. Standing up to Trump’s anti-science agenda. This is what professional integrity looks like. This is what it means to actually put patients first, not just say it.

When organizations with resources and power stand firm, it gives cover for individual physicians to do the same. We cannot let fear dictate medicine. We cannot let politicians override clinical judgment. ACOG’s refusal to capitulate is a roadmap for institutional resistance.

Alex Pretti’s Life and Legacy

Saturday marked nationwide tributes to Alex Pretti, the peaceful protestor who was executed by ICE in Minneapolis while defending his neighbors. His death has sparked a movement that extends far beyond Minnesota. Communities across the country - including Green Bay, where Alex grew up and went to high school - gathered over the weekend to honor his memory and demand accountability.

Organized group bike rides were held all over the globe, including my hometown of Kaukauna, where the Recyclist Bicycle Company put together a powerful tribute, including a heartbreaking, passionate speech by Carley Windorff, Alex’s college girlfriend. Her words captured the unbearable truth: Alex should still be here. His execution was not inevitable.

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The nationwide response demonstrates that Alex’s life mattered beyond geography, beyond borders, beyond the arbitrary lines that this administration uses to determine who deserves humanity and who doesn’t. Every community that showed up this weekend is saying: we see what happened. We will not forget. We will not accept this. We know the truth.

Alex Pretti’s memory demands more than mourning. It demands justice. It demands an end to the violence that killed him.

Gratitude After Near-Tragedy

Six weeks ago, I was in a car accident that nearly killed me. I’ve been processing that reality ever since, and this week brought two moments that cracked me open.

First, I got to personally thank the EMT from Random Lake who saved my life - Jacob. (The rest of the team wasn’t at the Fire Department that day - they’re all volunteers - but I can verify that they are there when you need them!) Spending a little time with someone who literally kept you alive does something to you. The gratitude is overwhelming. The awareness of how close it was is staggering. And being on the receiving end of the rural EMT services that I typically advocate for as a physician is humbling, to say the least. These people are true heroes.

Then the semi driver with whom I collided reached out, sharing an upbeat and hopeful card, asking me gently to give her a call…if I was up for it. I had been thinking about her since the accident, what it must have been like for her, knowing that she was physically ok but wondering how she was coping with the aftermath.

What could have been a perfunctory exchange turned into one of the most important conversations I’ve ever had. We talked about the accident and shared our perspectives. We were both profoundly relieved to know the other was doing well, which also made both of us a little giddy. And we made a plan to meet for lunch, probably with a long overdue hug.

Sometimes grace appears in the most unexpected places. And sometimes people surprise us with their humanity. I share both of these moments because I think we need reminders that, even in trauma like this, there is connection. There are people who show up. There is kindness that persists.

The Thread That Connects

This week’s highlights might seem disparate—reproductive rights activism, institutional resistance, state violence, personal gratitude—but they’re woven together by a common thread: the choice to fight back, to show up, to take accountability, to refuse to accept the unacceptable.

Amanda Zurawski could have stayed silent. ACOG could have taken the money and compromised. The communities honoring Alex Pretti could have looked away. The EMT, the semi driver, and I could have avoided the vulnerability of connection after trauma.

But none of us did. Because that’s not how change happens. That’s not how we heal. That’s not how we build the world we want to live in.

Every act of resistance matters. Every story shared matters. Every refusal to forget matters. Every moment of gratitude matters. This is the work. This is how we persist.

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What story resonated most with you this week? Let me know in the comments.

The 2026 Stakes: Mandela Barnes on What’s at Stake and Fighting for Working People

I sat down with Mandela Barnes, candidate for Wisconsin Governor, and we talked about what’s actually on the ballot in 2026. Not just policies. Not just party platforms. The future of working people and the middle class in Wisconsin. Mandela doesn’t mince words about this: Wisconsin needs leadership that recognizes the importance of supporting the people who make this state run. The nurses, the teachers, the farmers, the small business owners. The people who show up every day and deserve a government that shows up for them.

What happens in Wisconsin doesn’t stay in Wisconsin. We’re a swing state, a bellwether, and the decisions we make in 2026 will ripple across the entire country. Reproductive rights, healthcare access, democracy itself - it’s all on the line. And Mandela Barnes understands that protecting working families means protecting their ability to access healthcare, make their own medical decisions, and live with dignity.

When Fear of ICE Outweighs Fear of Death

But while we talk about the elections ahead, the harm is happening right now.

This week, I shared stories from my colleagues in Minnesota who are watching their patients suffer because ICE has made seeking medical care terrifying. These doctors aren’t speaking for themselves - they’re speaking for their patients who are too afraid to come in, even when lives are at risk. Pregnant patients who need prenatal care and a safe place to deliver their babies. People with chronic conditions who need regular monitoring. Emergencies that go untreated because the fear of deportation outweighs the fear of death.

This is what happens when immigration enforcement interferes with healthcare. Doctors take an oath to do no harm, but we’re watching harm unfold because our patients are more afraid of ICE than they are of their medical conditions. That’s not healthcare. That’s cruelty with a policy label.

Honoring Alex Pretti: Physicians Speak Out

And speaking of physicians standing up: this week, my extraordinary colleague and friend, Minnesota OB/Gyn Dr. Erin Stevens, led a collaboration of ten doctors who came together to honor Alex Pretti, our fellow healthcare worker whose courageous actions directly led to his execution at the hands of poorly trained ICE agents. We stood together because Alex deserves to be remembered as he lived. In the words of his parents: “Alex was a kindhearted soul who cared deeply for his family and friends and also the American veterans whom he cared for as an ICU nurse at the Minneapolis VA hospital. Alex wanted to make a difference in this world.” The response to our tribute was overwhelming - this went viral because people recognize the difference between justice and vengeance, between accountability and state-sanctioned killing.

Doing the Work: Leading in Challenging Times

In the middle of all of this, I was doing the work I was elected to do: presiding over a meeting of state and national leaders in obstetrics and gynecology, where we focused on how to best take care of our patients in these challenging times. Especially in rural parts of this country. Especially for vulnerable populations. Especially when it comes to full scope reproductive health care, from birth to menopause and everything in between. We talked strategy. We talked solutions. We talked about what it actually takes to deliver quality obstetric and gynecologic care when the environment is hostile and the resources are limited.

Because that’s what leadership looks like. Not just calling out the problems - though we absolutely must do that - but also rolling up our sleeves and figuring out how to take care of people anyway.

This past week was a lot. But it clarified something for me: every single piece of this work is connected. The governor we elect determines healthcare policy. Healthcare policy determines whether patients can access care. Whether patients can access care determines whether they live or die. And whether we as physicians can do our jobs with integrity or watch helplessly as fear and cruelty keep our patients away.

So we keep talking. We keep organizing. We keep showing up for our patients and for each other. Because the stakes are too high to do anything else.

Until next week, take care of yourself and each other,

Dr. Kristin Lyerly

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This work matters. Your engagement matters. Let’s keep the conversation going.

As a physician who sued to restore abortion access in Wisconsin, I’ve seen what fear does to patients. The fear of pregnancy complications without healthcare. The fear of criminalization. The fear that keeps people from seeking the care they need.

And as someone who hosts a radio show and podcast about healthcare and democracy, I’ve watched fear paralyze good people into inaction. They doomscroll. They rage. They feel powerless. And then they do... nothing.

So when I sat down with Jess Craven this week, I wanted to understand something: How has she been mobilizing tens of thousands of people, every single day, for nearly a decade? What does she know about turning fear into fuel that the rest of us are missing?

Turns out, quite a lot.

Growing Up Craven

Jess Craven is the daughter of horror legend Wes Craven - the man who gave us A Nightmare on Elm Street, Scream, and Freddy Krueger. In her family, confronting fear wasn’t abstract - it was family business.

There’s a moment in our conversation where Jess shares something her father told her: she was the inspiration for Nancy Thompson, the protagonist in A Nightmare on Elm Street. Nancy is the girl who figures out that Freddy Krueger’s power comes from his victims’ fear and belief in him. She defeats him by turning her back, withdrawing her energy, and declaring “I’m not afraid of you anymore.”

And he disappears.

That lesson - that monsters feed on fear, and you defeat them by refusing to give them your energy - is a cornerstone of Jess’s blueprint for political organizing.

“The nightmare wants your doomscrolling,” she told me. “It wants your despair. Take back that energy. Use it for something that actually makes a difference.”

From Folk Singer to Movement Builder

Jess Craven is a folk singer, which really isn’t that surprising. Her stepdad is Grammy-winning artist Tom Chapin, and she still sings with the Chapin Sisters, although she officially left the band in 2010. When she talks about her family, she shifts naturally to their many connections between art and music, specifically mentioning her uncle - Harry Chapin - and his generous commitment to ending hunger.

When Trump was elected in 2016, she was working an uninspiring sales job. She didn’t have a background in political organizing. She didn’t have a degree in communications or a career in activism. She just had a feeling that sitting still wasn’t an option, and a hunch that other people felt the same way.

What makes Jess different from so many political voices is this: she doesn’t just report the news and leave you spiraling. She gives you something concrete to DO about it. Every weekday. Without fail. For nearly nine years.

Call your senator about this bill. Text this number to support this candidate. Show up here. Donate there. Here’s why it matters. Here’s the deadline. Here’s the link.

It’s not revolutionary. It’s just relentless.

And it works.

The “Chop Wood, Carry Water” Philosophy

The name comes from a Zen teaching about the daily practice of enlightenment. Before enlightenment: chop wood, carry water. After enlightenment: chop wood, carry water.

The work is the work. You show up. You do what’s in front of you. You don’t wait for the perfect moment or the perfect strategy. You just keep going.

“Hope isn’t a feeling,” Jess told me. “It’s a practice.”

I’ve been thinking about that line since we recorded. In healthcare advocacy, I see the same thing. Patients don’t get better because their doctors feel hopeful. They get better because their healthcare providers show up - in the exam room and the legislative chamber - to do the work, adjust the treatment, and keep moving forward.

Democracy is the same. We don’t save it by feeling optimistic. We save it by showing up, taking action, and refusing to normalize what’s happening.

Fighting for Our Kids

One of the most powerful parts of our conversation was about Jess’s experience as the parent of a trans teenager.

She’s not just an organizer talking about trans rights in the abstract. She’s a mom watching her kid grow up in a country that’s debating whether they have the right to exist, to access healthcare, to use a bathroom, to play sports with their friends.

“This is NOT normal,” Jess said. “And we can’t let the next generation think it is.”

That hit me hard.

Because she’s right. The kids who are growing up right now are learning what’s acceptable. What’s possible. What they should expect from their country.

They’re watching us normalize chaos. They’re watching us scroll past horror after horror. They’re learning that democracy is supposed to be this broken, healthcare is supposed to be this hard, and fighting for your basic rights is just... Tuesday.

We owe them better than that.

We owe them a country where democracy actually works. Where healthcare is a human right. Where their existence isn’t up for debate. Where public servants actually serve the public.

And we can give them that - if we refuse to accept what’s happening as normal.

The New Media Ecosystem

What fascinates me about Jess’s work is how she’s built something entirely new in the media landscape.

She’s not a traditional journalist. She’s not exactly a traditional activist. She’s a political content creator - someone who uses Substack, TikTok, Instagram, and podcasts to reach people where they are, give them information they can trust, and mobilize them into action.

She’s created free “Activism 101” and “Democracy 101” workshops that have trained thousands of people. She co-hosts The Practivist Pod with Steve Pierson. She’s a member of the LA County Democratic Party. She’s built an entire ecosystem of engagement.

And she’s done it by understanding something fundamental: people don’t need more information to feel bad about. They need actionable steps that make them feel powerful.

Healthcare and Democracy: The Same Fight

I’ve been reflecting a lot lately about the relationship between healthcare advocacy and democracy organizing.

This conversation with Jess crystallized something for me: we’re all fighting the same fight.

Whether it’s reproductive rights, trans healthcare, voting rights, or protecting our ability to organize - it all comes down to the same thing. Taking back power from those who want us afraid, divided, and paralyzed.

The politicians who want to ban abortion are the same ones trying to restrict voting rights. The forces attacking trans kids are the same ones dismantling public education. The people profiting from our broken healthcare system are the same ones bankrolling the erosion of democracy.

It’s all connected.

And the solution is the same too: refuse to be paralyzed. Take back your energy. Show up. Do the work. Keep going.

Chop wood. Carry water.

What You Can Do

If this resonates with you, here’s what I want you to do:

First, listen to the full episode. We cover so much more than I can capture here - concrete actions for this week, how to organize sustainably, where to find real hope when everything feels dark.

Second, subscribe to Jess’s newsletter: “Chop Wood, Carry Water” at chopwoodcarrywaterdailyactions.substack.com. It’s free, it’s daily (weekdays), and it will give you something to do instead of doomscrolling.

Third, pick one action from this week’s newsletter and actually do it. Not “I’ll get to it eventually.” Do it today. Make the call. Send the text. Show up. And bring a friend.

And fourth, remember this: our kids are watching. They’re learning what we accept and what we fight for. Let’s show them what democracy is supposed to look like.

Where to Listen:

📺 YouTube: Dr. Kristin Lyerly

📻 Radio:

• Noon ET - Georgia NOW (Atlanta)

• Noon CT - Civic Media (Wisconsin)

• 5pm CT - WCPT AM 820 (Chicago’s Progressive Talk) & Heartland Signal

🎙️ Podcasts: Search “The Dr. Kristin Lyerly Show” on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, civicmedia.us or wherever you listen

Let me know what you think after you listen. I’m genuinely curious what lands for you, what challenges you, what gives you hope.

Because we’re building something here. A community of people who refuse to normalize what’s happening. Who are taking back their energy from fear and using it to fight for the future our kids deserve.

Are you in?

—Kristin

But the courts—the actual work of showing up, filing lawsuits, demanding accountability—can still protect us. And one organization has been winning these fights while the rest of us were wondering if resistance was even possible anymore.

Let me tell you about Democracy Forward.

Holding Trump Accountable

The Atlantic called them “the single largest source of Trump’s legal troubles.” That phrase made me smile when I read it, because I know it’s true.

I sat down with Skye Perryman, Democracy Forward’s President and CEO, for my podcast this week. What she told me changed how I understand this moment we’re in.

Since Trump’s inauguration, Democracy Forward has filed over 700 legal actions. They work with more than 500 partner organizations. They’ve won court orders protecting everything from affordable health insurance to Social Security numbers to your right to worship without ICE agents in the parking lot.

While powerful law firms were capitulating to Trump’s intimidation tactics, Democracy Forward kept fighting. And they kept winning.

The Victories You Need to Know About

Health insurance for millions of Americans is still intact because Democracy Forward sued when the administration tried to strip coverage from 2.2 million Americans. That court order is still protecting healthcare right now.

Medication abortion is still available because they’re representing the generic manufacturer in federal court against Texas, Louisiana, and other states trying to ban it. This is Trump’s backdoor abortion ban, and Democracy Forward is blocking the door.

Your Social Security data isn’t in DOGE’s hands (at least not all of it) because they won a court order keeping Elon Musk and his cronies out of our most sensitive information. When the Supreme Court paused that order on the shadow docket, they immediately filed a new case on different legal grounds—and won again.

Trump didn’t get his $230 million payday from taxpayers. Democracy Forward launched an investigation into this corruption and filed suit when the Justice Department stonewalled their public records requests. Two hundred and thirty million dollars. While families are struggling to make ends meet.

ICE can’t raid your church if it’s one of the hundreds of houses of worship Democracy Forward is protecting. They won a court order covering Baptist churches, Quaker meeting houses, and Sikh temples across the country. Religious freedom, actually defended.

$6 billion in education funding got unfrozen when Democracy Forward found a new legal theory after the Supreme Court paused their first victory. They didn’t give up. They went back to court and won.

How Democracy Survives

Here’s what Skye told me that I can’t stop thinking about: “This is the largest and most successful affirmative litigation effort against an executive branch in United States history. And the people have made that happen.”

The people. Not just lawyers. Not just organizations. Regular Americans who showed up to say: you can’t do this to us.

Because that’s what these lawsuits really are. When you file in court against your government, you’re exercising one of the most important powers this country gives you. You’re saying publicly: I have rights, you violated them, and I’m going to make you answer for it.

Even if you don’t win every case - though Democracy Forward wins far more than they lose - you’ve created a public record. You’ve forced accountability. You’ve shown others they’re not alone.

That’s why Trump tried to intimidate lawyers. That’s why some big law firms backed down. Because courts are dangerous to authoritarians. Not because of what judges decide, but because of what the act of litigation represents: people refusing to submit.

What They’re Fighting Right Now

The Trump administration is trying to:

• Implement loyalty pledges for federal workers (making government employees swear allegiance to Trump personally, not the Constitution)

• Decimate the professional civil service and replace merit-based hiring with political hacks

• Force doctors and researchers to pledge loyalty to get federal funding

• Make public schools swear allegiance to receive Department of Education funds

• Share your tax return data with ICE

Democracy Forward is in court fighting all of it.

They’re part of Democracy 2025—a network of 650 organizations that together account for 70% of all cases against this administration and over half the wins. When I asked Skye how they coordinate that many groups, she said something simple and profound: “Community allows us to strengthen each other. Being in community makes you remember you’re not alone.”

Why This Matters to You

I’m a physician. I know what it feels like when the institutions you’ve trusted your whole career suddenly can’t be trusted. The CDC. The FDA. Federal health agencies captured by political appointees.

It’s terrifying.

But here’s what I’ve learned: when institutions fail, people can still fight back. When Congress is paralyzed and the Supreme Court turns away, federal district courts can still issue orders protecting our rights. When powerful law firms cave to pressure, public interest lawyers can step forward.

You don’t have to be a lawyer to be part of this. Democracy Forward works with communities across the country - healthcare workers, educators, faith leaders, parents, immigrants, anyone whose rights are being violated.

The work they’re doing isn’t just about winning cases. It’s about showing that resistance is possible. That we’re not helpless. That when we work together, we can actually protect each other.

What You Can Do

First, understand what’s at stake. Project 2025 wasn’t some conspiracy theory—it’s the actual playbook, and Democracy Forward read it cover to cover before most people knew it existed. They published a People’s Guide breaking it down in plain language. (You can still find it here.)

Second, know your rights. If your employer, your school, or a government agency is doing something unconstitutional, don’t be afraid to step up. Organizations like Democracy Forward exist to help people and communities fight back.

Third, build community. Talk to people. Share stories. The Trump administration’s strategy is to isolate us, to incite fear, and to make each attack feel like an individual problem. But when we connect, when we see patterns, when we organize together - our power grows.

And finally: don’t let them exhaust you into submission. That’s their playbook. Do so much harm so quickly that we can’t keep track, can’t stay angry, can’t maintain focus. They want us to give up, but we won’t. We can’t.

Democracy Forward’s job is to make sure nothing goes unchallenged, even when we’re feeling beat down and tired. Your job is to remember that the work is happening. The fights are being won. We’re not powerless.

The Long Game

Skye grew up in Waco, Texas. She knows these movements didn’t start with Trump and won’t end with him. She’s been building Democracy Forward since 2017, scaling it up since 2021, preparing for exactly this moment.

When I asked if she could have imagined we’d be here again, electing Trump a second time, she pointed to something crucial: these attacks on democracy weren’t new. They’ve been happening in states for years. Project 2025 was just the federal version of what she’d already been fighting.

That’s the kind of long-game thinking that wins. Not panic. Not despair. Strategic, sustained, community-driven resistance.

I want to hear from you: What gives you hope right now? What victories have you seen in your community? How are you staying in the fight? Drop your thoughts in the comments.

“The Dr. Kristin Lyerly Show” is available wherever you get your podcasts and @drkristinlyerly on YouTube. If this resonated, please share it with someone who needs to hear that the resistance is real!

Want to support Democracy Forward’s work? Visit democracyforward.org to learn more about them and how to get involved.

Rob has lived his entire life with a disability. He's one of the kindest, most resilient people I know. He advocates for others in his community, volunteers when his health allows, and has built a life of quiet dignity despite systems designed to keep him dependent. But yesterday, Rob sounded defeated.

And he has every reason to be terrified.

The Policy That Changes Everything

The article Rob sent detailed the Trump administration's proposal to reverse a Biden-era rule that protected disabled Americans' right to live independently. As I read through the policy specifics, I understood immediately why Rob was terrified. For him and nearly 400,000 other disabled Americans, this wasn't just another political headline—it was a direct threat to their independence.

Here's what's happening: If you receive Supplemental Security Income (SSI) and live with family members who receive SNAP benefits (food stamps), you could lose hundreds of dollars per month from your already meager payments. Around 300,000 people will see their monthly checks reduced, while another 100,000 could lose their benefits entirely.

Let me put this in perspective for you.

The Math of Survival

SSI maxes out at about $900 per month. That's $10,800 per year. In a country where the median rent for a one-bedroom apartment is over $1,400 monthly, we're asking disabled Americans to survive on less than most people spend on their car payments.

But it gets worse. To qualify for SSI, you can't have more than $2,000 in the bank. Think about that for a moment. Your emergency fund—the money you keep for when your refrigerator breaks, when you need a car repair, when life happens—can't exceed what many Americans spend on a weekend vacation.

Now imagine living with that constraint while also managing a disability. Medical appointments. Specialized equipment. Accessible housing that's often more expensive. Transportation challenges when you can't drive or use regular public transit.

When I messaged Rob back after reading the article, I could tell he was rattled—not from his disability, but from pure, raw terror about his future and, because he’s always thinking about others, what happens to everyone else who depend on SSI.

The Medical Reality

As a physician, I see the human cost of these policies every single day. I see patients rationing medications because they can't afford both pills and food. I see people skipping follow-up appointments because they can't afford transportation. I see the stress-related health complications that come from constant financial insecurity.

But what's happening to Rob and hundreds of thousands like him goes beyond individual suffering. It's a fundamental assault on the principle that every person deserves the chance to live with dignity.

The research is clear: community-based care is not only more humane than institutional care—it's also more cost-effective. People like Rob thrive when they can live independently, contribute to their communities, and maintain their social connections. Force them into institutions, and we ALL lose.

The Bigger Picture

This policy change isn't happening in a vacuum. It's part of a broader pattern of cuts to programs that support our most vulnerable citizens. SNAP benefits are being slashed. Medicaid is under attack. Housing assistance is being gutted.

Meanwhile, we just passed massive tax cuts for the wealthy. The annual savings from cutting Rob's benefits wouldn't pay for a single day of those tax breaks.

Let me be blunt: this is about values. What kind of society do we want to be? One that supports people like Rob in living independently, or one that warehouses them in institutions because it's politically expedient?

Rob's Response

Here's what gives me hope: after sending me that article, Rob didn't retreat into despair.

Instead, he turned his anguish into action. He's reaching out to other SSI recipients in his community. He's becoming an advocate for himself and others, despite never being politically active before.

Rob is transforming his fear into advocacy, his vulnerability into strength. He's reminding me that the disability community has always had to fight for every ounce of dignity and independence they've achieved.

What You Can Do

If Rob's story moves you—and it should—there are concrete ways to help:

Immediate Actions:

• Contact your representatives and tell them you oppose cuts to SSI benefits

• Share this story and others like it to raise awareness

• Support disability advocacy organizations financially or through volunteering

Longer-term Engagement:

• Learn about the disability community's history of activism and resistance

• Examine your own assumptions about disability and independence

• Vote for candidates who support robust social safety nets

Personal Reflection: Ask yourself: What would you do if $300 per month meant the difference between living in your own home and being institutionalized? How would you want society to treat you if you became disabled tomorrow?

The Text I'm Waiting For

I'm hoping that future texts I get from Rob will be different - it has already started! I want to read excitement in his messages as he tells me about the advocacy work he's doing. I want to hear about the community he's building with other disabled Americans who refuse to be silently shuffled into institutions.

Most of all, I want to hear that he gets to keep his independence—not because of charity or pity, but because we've decided that every person's dignity matters.

Rob sent me that text because he was scared. But he also sent it because he trusted me to listen, to understand, and to act.

Now I'm calling on you to do the same.

Dr. Kristin Lyerly is a practicing obstetrician/gynecologist and healthcare advocate. Follow her work on TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Threads, YouTube, Twitter, BlueSky & Reddit and subscribe to this newsletter for more perspectives on healthcare policy and human dignity.

What are your thoughts on this policy change? Have you or someone you know been affected by SSI cuts? Share your story in the comments below.

As someone who works in healthcare, I see firsthand how policy decisions impact real people’s lives. The leaders we elect make choices about healthcare access, public health funding, environmental protections, and community resources that directly affect our wellbeing.

Democracy isn’t a spectator sport. Every election - from local school board races to presidential contests - shapes the world we live in. Yet millions of eligible Americans aren’t registered to vote. If you’re one of them, today is your day to change that.

Your vote is literally a health intervention. When you cast your ballot, you’re influencing decisions about:

• Healthcare funding and accessibility

• Environmental policies that affect air and water quality

• Mental health resources in your community

• Public health emergency preparedness

• Insurance regulations and prescription drug costs

Registration takes less than five minutes online in most states. Check your status, update your address if you’ve moved, or register for the first time at vote.gov.

Your voice matters. Your vote counts. And your future self - and your community - will thank you for taking action today.

If this resonated with you, please share it with someone who needs to hear it. Democracy works best when we all participate.

And, as I walk through hospital corridors today, I'm struck by an irony that would have been unimaginable to the workers who first marched for Labor Day in 1882: many of the healthcare professionals caring for patients are themselves fighting for basic labor protections that other industries secured decades ago.

The Foundation: How Labor Built Health

The eight-hour workday. Workplace safety standards. Employer-provided health insurance. Paid sick leave. These weren't gifts from benevolent corporations—they were hard-won victories of organized labor that fundamentally transformed American health outcomes.

Before labor organizing, industrial workers faced crushing 12-16 hour days in dangerous conditions. The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire of 1911, which killed 146 workers trapped by locked exits and inadequate safety measures, galvanized the labor movement and led to groundbreaking workplace safety legislation. Today, when I care for patients who have experienced fewer traumatic workplace injuries than physicians did a century ago, I'm seeing the fruits of those early labor battles.

The link between working conditions and health isn't abstract—it's written in the medical literature and etched in my daily practice. Chronic stress from job insecurity increases cardiovascular disease risk. Lack of paid sick leave leads to delayed medical care and workplace disease transmission. Inadequate workplace safety standards result in higher rates of occupational injuries and illnesses.

The Modern Paradox: Healthcare Workers Without Healthcare Security

Perhaps nowhere is the intersection of labor and health more visible today than in healthcare itself. The COVID-19 pandemic exposed a troubling reality: many of the essential workers we called heroes lacked basic labor protections.

I've watched colleagues work mandatory overtime shifts that compromise patient safety due to physician fatigue. I've seen nurses leave the profession in droves, not because they stopped caring about patients, but because hospital corporations prioritized profits over both worker wellbeing and patient care. The nursing shortage isn't just a labor issue—it's a public health crisis that directly affects patient outcomes.

Recent data shows that hospitals with higher nurse-to-patient ratios have lower mortality rates and fewer medical errors. When healthcare workers have union representation, they're more likely to speak up about unsafe staffing levels and patient safety concerns without fear of retaliation. This isn't just good for workers—it's good for patients.

The Prescription: Labor Rights as Public Health Policy

From my vantage point as a physician, I increasingly see labor rights and public health as inseparable. When workers have strong collective bargaining power, they secure benefits that improve community health outcomes:

Paid Family Leave: Allows parents to care for newborns and sick family members without financial ruin, improving maternal and child health outcomes while reducing emergency department visits for preventable complications.

Comprehensive Health Coverage: Union-negotiated health plans typically offer better coverage with lower out-of-pocket costs, leading to earlier medical intervention and better chronic disease management.

Workplace Safety Standards: Strong labor protections reduce occupational injuries and exposures that burden our healthcare system and devastate families.

Mental Health Support: Unions increasingly negotiate for mental health benefits and workplace stress reduction measures, addressing the mental health crisis that affects one in five Americans.

The Vital Signs: Where We Stand Today

As we observe Labor Day 2025, the health of organized labor mirrors the health of our broader society. Union membership has declined from over 30% in the 1950s to approximately 10% today, coinciding with rising income inequality and declining health outcomes for working-class Americans.

States with stronger labor protections consistently show better health metrics: higher life expectancy, lower infant mortality, and reduced rates of preventable hospitalizations. This isn't coincidence—it's evidence that worker power translates directly into community health.

Meanwhile, the rise of gig work and "independent contractor" classifications has left millions of Americans without traditional employment protections, health insurance, or paid sick leave. As a physician, I see the health consequences of this trend daily: patients who delay care because they can't afford to miss work, delivery drivers who work through illness because they lack sick leave, and families who ration medications because gig work doesn't provide health coverage.

The Treatment Plan: A Physician's Prescription for Progress

Medicine teaches us that prevention is more effective than treatment. The same principle applies to the intersection of labor and health. Instead of treating the downstream health effects of poor working conditions, we should address the upstream causes:

We need policies that strengthen workers' ability to organize and collectively bargain for health benefits and safe working conditions. We need to expand access to healthcare that isn't tied to traditional employment, recognizing the changing nature of work. And we need to acknowledge that worker health and patient health are not competing interests—they're complementary aspects of a healthy society.

As healthcare professionals, we have a unique obligation to advocate for policies that promote both worker welfare and public health. When we support fair wages, we're addressing social determinants of health. When we advocate for workplace safety, we're practicing preventive medicine on a societal scale.

The Prognosis: Healthy Workers, Healthy Communities

This Labor Day, as we honor the sacrifices and achievements of organized labor, let's recognize that the fight for worker rights is fundamentally a fight for public health. The eight-hour workday didn't just give workers more leisure time—it reduced stress-related illness and workplace accidents. Employer-provided health insurance didn't just benefit workers—it strengthened the entire healthcare system's financial foundation.

The prescription for America's health challenges isn't found solely in medical innovation or healthcare reform—it's also found in ensuring that all workers have the power to secure safe, healthy, and dignified working conditions.

As a physician, I've taken an oath to "first, do no harm." But healing requires more than avoiding harm—it requires actively promoting health. And in America, that means supporting the continued evolution of organized labor as a vital force for public health.

The stethoscope around my neck and the union card in a nurse's wallet serve the same fundamental purpose: protecting and promoting human health and dignity. This Labor Day, let's remember that the pulse of organized labor beats in rhythm with the heartbeat of a healthy society.

What connections do you see between labor rights and health in your own work or community? I'd love to hear your thoughts in the comments below.

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Why RFK Jr. Must Go: The Case for Immediate Resignation

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is unfit to serve as Secretary of Health and Human Services. Not because of his political views, not because of partisan differences, but because he fundamentally misunderstands how medicine and science work—and his ignorance is actively endangering public health.

Last week, Kennedy made a statement that should end his tenure immediately. Speaking to reporters in Austin, Texas, he claimed he possesses the ability to diagnose serious medical conditions through casual observation.

"I'm looking at kids as I walk through the airports today, as I walk down the street, and I see these kids that are overburdened with mitochondrial challenges, with inflammation," Kennedy declared. "You can tell from their faces, from their body movements and from their lack of social connection."

Let me be absolutely clear: this is not how medicine works. This is not how diagnosis works. This is pseudoscientific nonsense of the highest order.

Mitochondrial disorders are rare, complex genetic conditions that affect cellular energy production. Diagnosing them requires:

• Comprehensive genetic testing

• Muscle biopsies

• Detailed blood tests and more

You cannot—and I cannot stress this enough—diagnose mitochondrial dysfunction by looking at a child's face in an airport terminal.

The Systematic Destruction of Expertise

But Kennedy's delusions of diagnostic grandeur aren't happening in a vacuum. They're occurring as he systematically dismantles the very institutions that actually do know how to identify and respond to disease threats.

Since becoming HHS Secretary, Kennedy has orchestrated what can only be described as a purge of scientific expertise:

The Mass Firings:

• Over 2,400 CDC employees terminated—18% of the entire workforce

• Specialists in tobacco control, injury prevention, workplace safety, birth defects, reproductive health, and substance abuse eliminated

• The Laboratory Leadership Service, dubbed "disease detectors," gutted

• Food safety experts who monitor for E. coli, salmonella, and other threats fired

• Public Health Associate Program fellows who respond to local outbreaks across the nation terminated

The Advisory Committee Massacre: In an unprecedented move, Kennedy fired all 17 members of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP)—the expert panel that has guided U.S. vaccine policy for decades. These weren't political appointees; they were leading epidemiologists, infectious disease specialists, and public health experts with combined centuries of experience.

The committee had been the global gold standard for evidence-based vaccine recommendations. As former ACIP chair Dr. Jonathan Temte warned, "We are heading in the direction of U.S. vaccine policy becoming the laughing stock of the globe."

The Leadership Exodus: The chaos has triggered a mass exodus of experienced leaders:

• CDC Director Susan Monarez fired after less than one month

• Chief Medical Officer Dr. Debra Houry resigned

• Director of Immunization and Respiratory Diseases Dr. Demetre Daskalakis resigned

• Director of Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases Dr. Daniel Jernigan resigned

• Director of Public Health Data and Surveillance Dr. Jennifer Layden resigned

The Real-World Consequences

This isn't just bureaucratic reshuffling—it's the dismantling of America's disease surveillance and response infrastructure. The fired "disease detectors" weren't paper pushers; they were the early warning system that identifies outbreaks before they become epidemics.

Consider what we've lost:

• Outbreak Response Teams: The specialists who rush to investigate unusual disease clusters

• Laboratory Safety Experts: The people who ensure dangerous pathogens are handled safely

• Food Safety Monitors: The scientists who track contamination in our food supply

• Vaccine Safety Surveillance: The researchers who monitor for rare adverse events

Meanwhile, Texas just experienced a massive measles outbreak with over 900 infections, mostly in children, and similar outbreaks are popping up all over the country. Kennedy's response? Promoting the false claim that "everybody got measles" when he was young and that natural infection provides better protection than vaccines.

The Epistemological Crisis

What we're witnessing isn't just bad policy—it's an epistemological crisis. Kennedy represents the triumph of intuition over investigation, of gut feeling over scientific method, of confident ignorance over humble expertise.

When the person controlling our health agencies believes he can diagnose genetic disorders through casual observation, we've crossed a line from policy disagreement into medical mysticism.

This matters because public health depends on trust—trust that recommendations are based on rigorous evidence, that surveillance systems are staffed by trained professionals, that advisory committees include actual experts rather than ideological appointees.

What Physicians Are Seeing

In my practice, I'm already seeing the effects of this systematic erosion of scientific authority:

• Parents questioning routine childhood vaccines based on discredited theories

• Increased vaccine hesitancy leading to preventable disease outbreaks

• Confusion about basic public health measures

• Growing distrust of medical recommendations

When the head of HHS promotes visual diagnosis and anti-vaccine conspiracy theories, it doesn't just affect federal policy—it undermines the doctor-patient relationship at every level of healthcare.

The Imperative: Kennedy Must Resign Now

This is not about political ideology or policy preferences. This is about basic competence and public safety. A person who believes he can diagnose genetic disorders by looking at children's faces has no business running America's health agencies.

What we need to do immediately:

To Congress: Demand Kennedy's resignation or removal. Hold hearings. Investigate the systematic destruction of our disease surveillance capabilities. Restore funding and staffing to the CDC's essential functions.

To Medical Professionals: Speak out. Our silence as a community enables this destruction of scientific authority. Professional medical organizations must take stronger stands against pseudoscience in government.

To the Public: Contact your representatives. Demand accountability. Don't let “casual airport diagnosis” become the new standard for American healthcare.

To Parents: Trust your trained pediatricians and family medicine physicians, not conspiracy theorists. Vaccines save lives. Evidence-based medicine works. Visual diagnosis doesn't.

The Stakes Couldn't Be Higher

Kennedy must resign because:

• He has no medical training yet claims diagnostic abilities

• He has systematically dismantled disease surveillance infrastructure

• He has replaced scientific experts with anti-vaccine activists

• He has undermined decades of evidence-based public health policy

• He poses an active threat to pandemic preparedness

Every day Kennedy remains in office is another day our public health infrastructure deteriorates. Every day he promotes pseudoscience is another day parents lose trust in legitimate medical advice. Every day he controls health policy is another day America becomes more vulnerable to the next disease outbreak.

A Call to Action

Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s resignation isn't just preferable—it's essential for protecting American lives. When airport people-watching replaces epidemiological expertise, when anti-vaccine conspiracy theories drive federal policy, when pseudoscience colonizes our health agencies, we're not just failing as a nation—we're actively endangering our children.

Kennedy has proven he cannot distinguish between medical intuition and medical science. He has shown he values ideology over evidence, gut feeling over rigorous analysis, confident ignorance over humble expertise.

That disqualifies him from running a corner pharmacy, let alone America's health agencies.

He must resign. Now.

Dr. Kristin Lyerly is a Wisconsin-based, board certified obstetrician/gynecologist. Follow for more evidence-based takes on health policy and medical misinformation.

What do you think? Are you concerned about these changes to our health agencies? Share your thoughts in the comments below.