[[link removed]] Ms. Memo: This Week in Women's Rights
January 7, 2026
From the ongoing fight for abortion rights and access, to elections, to the drive for the Equal Rights Amendment, there are a multitude of battles to keep up with. In this weekly roundup, find the absolute need-to-know news for feminists.
RFK Jr. Wants to Scrutinize the Vaccine Schedule—But its Safety Record Is Already Decades Long [[link removed]]
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(Andrew Harnik / Getty Images)
By Jake Scott | The U.S. childhood immunization schedule, the grid of colored bars pediatricians share with parents, recommends a set of vaccines given from birth through adolescence to prevent a range of serious infections. The basic structure has been in place since 1995, when federal health officials and medical organizations first issued a unified national standard, though new vaccines have been added regularly as science advanced.
Vaccines on the childhood schedule have been tested in controlled trials involving millions of participants, and they are continuously monitored for safety after being rolled out. The schedule represents the accumulated knowledge of decades of research. It has made the diseases it targets so rare that many parents have never seen them.
But the schedule is now under scrutiny.
On Dec. 16, 2025, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention adopted its first major change to the childhood immunization schedule, under Kennedy’s leadership. The agency accepted an advisory committee’s vote to drop a long-held recommendation that all newborns be vaccinated against hepatitis B, despite no new evidence that questions the vaccine’s long-standing safety record.
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who has cast doubt on vaccine safety for decades, has said he plans to further scrutinize the vaccines children receive.
I’m an infectious disease physician who treats vaccine-preventable diseases and reviews the clinical trial evidence behind immunization recommendations. The vaccine schedule wasn’t designed in a single stroke. It was built gradually over decades, shaped by disease outbreaks, technological breakthroughs and hard-won lessons about reducing childhood illness and death.
With federal officials now casting doubt on its foundations, it’s helpful to know how it came about.
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Read more:
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How the Trump Administration Used a National Guard Tragedy to Accelerate Its Anti-Immigrant Agenda [[link removed]] Texas and Florida Sue FDA in New Bid to Block Abortion Pill Access [[link removed]]
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No, Abortion Pills Aren’t Polluting U.S. Waterways [[link removed]] Sneak Peek: What’s in the Winter Issue of Ms.? Groundbreaking Reporting on Women’s Health and Power [[link removed]]
What we're reading:
Because it's hard to keep up with everything going on in the world right now. Here's what we're reading this week:
* "Why Women’s Health Content Is Suppressed Online" — Forbes [[link removed]]
[link removed] [[link removed]] Tune in for a new episode of Ms. magazine's podcast, On the Issues with Michele Goodwin, at MsMagazine.com, [[link removed]] Apple Podcasts [[link removed]] or wherever you listen to podcasts.
Last year was a harrowing year for many families. The Trump administration’s budget cuts are giving tax breaks to billionaires at the expense of funding healthy meals for students experiencing food insecurity; legislatures are banning books and attacking LGBTQ+ students; and immigration crackdowns are leaving many students afraid to go to school at all. Families have had a lot to be worried about—more than just tests and grades—this year. What are students, parents, and teachers worried about—and what policies are advocates watching?
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