The Download: dismantling US science leadership, and reproductive care cuts

The foundations of America’s prosperity are being dismantled

Ever since World War II, the US has been the global leader in science and technology—and benefited immensely from it. Research fuels American innovation and the economy in turn. Scientists around the world want to study in the US and collaborate with American scientists to produce more of that research. 

These international collaborations play a critical role in American soft power and diplomacy. The products Americans can buy, the drugs they have access to, the diseases they’re at risk of catching—are all directly related to the strength of American research and its connections to the world’s scientists.

That scientific leadership is now being dismantled, according to more than 10 federal workers who spoke to MIT Technology Review, as the Trump administration slashes personnel, programs, and agencies. And it could lead to long-lasting, perhaps irreparable damage to everything from the quality of health care to the public’s access to next-generation technologies. Read the full story. 

—Karen Hao

8,000 pregnant women may die in just 90 days because of US aid cuts

A barrage of actions by the new Trump administration is hitting reproductive care hard for people around the world. 

On January 20, his first day in office, Trump ordered a “90-day pause in United States foreign development assistance” for such programs to be assessed. By January 24, a “stop work” memo issued by the State Department brought US-funded aid programs around the world to a halt.  

Recent estimates suggest that more than 8,000 women will die from complications related to pregnancy and childbirth over the next 90 days if the funding is not reinstated. Read our story to get up to date on what’s happened.