Axios

Planned Parenthood and 75 other advocacy groups are urging the Trump administration to halt the planned destruction of $9.7 million worth of contraceptives meant for those in low-income countries.

Why it matters: The Trump administration is pushing to destroy the supplies as part of its dismantling of the United States Agency for International Development, even though the United Nations and reproductive organizations have offered to buy or ship the supplies to their intended recipients.

Worries about the spread of Chagas disease — which comes from an insect known as the "kissing bug" — are rising.

The big picture: Though experts have been concerned about the potentially fatal disease for years, the parasitic disease was only recently deemed endemic in the United States.

You may have noticed: Days are getting shorter.

Why it matters: As the Sun's path in the sky shifts southward, that could also mean your mood goes South.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention plans to contract with Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute to investigate the debunked idea that vaccines cause autism, according to a notice on the federal website.

Why it matters: Several large studies have already disproven the connection. But Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has continued to promote the possibility of a link.

President Trump is turning up pressure on drugmakers to lower prices and demanding they commit within weeks to his "most-favored nation" policy, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick tells Mike Allen in the premiere episode of "The Axios Show."

Why it matters: The initiative — which calls for charging the U.S. less for drugs than comparable countries — continues Trump's efforts to reshape drug pricing through threats and public shaming.

Health care inflation hit a three-year high last month, in the latest sign that workers could soon be juggling big premium increases with higher prices for groceries, clothing and other items subject to President Trump's tariffs.

Why it matters: Medical prices have been steadily rising, but corporations projecting increases of 9% or more next year are no longer willing to insulate their employees from the pain.

The Trump administration can move ahead with plans to cut off Medicaid funding to Planned Parenthood affiliates, a federal appeals court ruled on Thursday.

Why it matters: Planned Parenthood previously warned such a move could lead to the closure of hundreds of clinics nationwide.

Charlie Kirk's assassination has unleashed an outpouring of rage across the MAGA universe, with many leaders feeling his death is evidence the movement is under attack from leftist forces.

Why it matters: At a moment of extreme volatility in American politics, many MAGA leaders are now calling for retribution — including the criminalization of the Democratic Party.

LB Pharmaceuticals, a developer of drugs for neuropsychiatric diseases like acute schizophrenia, raised $285 million in its IPO.

Why it's the BFD: This is the first major biopharma IPO since February, the longest such drought in 15 years.

The Consumer Price Index rose in August, though a gauge that excludes food and energy held steady, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said on Thursday.

Why it matters: Overall inflation heated up for the fourth straight month as President Trump's tariffs weigh on prices, posing challenges to the Federal Reserve.

Abortion politics are colliding with ongoing efforts in Congress to extend enhanced subsidies for Affordable Care Act coverage.

Why it matters: Renewing the premium subsidies even for a year beyond their Dec. 31 expiration was always going to be politically tricky because of the cost. Now there's the added complication of restricting any funds from being used on abortions.

Driving the news: Anti-abortion groups and some GOP lawmakers are pushing to attach the Hyde Amendment, which bans federal funding for abortion in most instances, to any subsidy extension.

• Democrats say the ACA already has a mechanism to segregate taxpayer funds so they're not used to pay for the procedure and accuse Republicans of using the debate as a backdoor way to expand abortion restrictions.
• Without a resolution, premiums for more than 20 million ACA enrollees will increase over 75% on average if the subsidies expire, according to KFF.

What they're saying: A coalition of anti-abortion groups led by Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America urged lawmakers this week to include a "complete application" of the Hyde Amendment to any subsidy extension, dismissing the requirements already in place as an "accounting gimmick."

• "Any funding for Obamacare … is forced taxpayer funding of abortion — unless such funds are definitively limited to coverage that excludes elective abortion," the groups said in a letter.
• "Any action on ACA subsidies must include strong protections for Hyde," Gabby Wiggins, a spokesperson for Sen. Steve Daines (R-Mont.), told Axios. Daines is a leader on anti-abortion issues in the Senate.

The other side: "You're not going to be able to make progress on that if you start handing out right-wing trophies," Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon, the top Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee, told Axios.

• Ryan Stitzlein, a vice president at Reproductive Freedom for All, said Republicans are looking for "a backdoor abortion ban for those who cannot pay for services out of pocket."

The big picture: It's not clear how hard Republicans will push on the abortion issue. ACA funding faces other obstacles at this point.

• It's not clear that sufficient GOP support exists for a clean extension of the subsidies anyway. Some Republicans view it as too costly and a handout to insurance companies.
• But top GOP leaders have expressed some openness in recent weeks, aware of the political peril of allowing a major premium increase in an election year.

Abortion curbs are so divisive that they could kill a well-crafted compromise. Debate about the Hyde Amendment helped torpedo a bipartisan effort to shore up the ACA in 2018.

• The issue also almost stopped the ACA from becoming law in the first place, before Democrats worked out a delicate funding compromise among themselves.
• With Republicans now in charge of Congress, it's perhaps not surprising that the issue is back.