Fact Sheet

Law and policy play a critical role in shaping health outcomes especially when it comes to racial health equity. While legislative actions and trends matter, it is also important to understand the role of the courts in altering legal landscapes in ways that can positively or negatively impact racial health disparities. This fact sheet highlights four 2023 U.S. Supreme Court cases with examples of how each potentially impacts racial health equity. It also provides a further examination of two cases of the cases that can be classified as wins for racial health equity.

Heat is the deadliest weather-related hazard in the United States, yet only half of states have laws preventing electricity shutoffs when temperatures climb to dangerous levels. Our new fact sheet surveys statewide laws and policies that suspend utility disconnections during extreme heat, breaking down the thresholds that trigger protections, who's eligible, and which states offer repayment or reconnection support.

Despite federal reforms like the First Step Act, incarcerated people across the country still struggle to access basic menstrual products, with only 25 states mandating that they be provided free of charge. Our new fact sheet, Bleeding Behind Bars: It Costs to Menstruate, examines the legislative landscape across all 50 states, the steep commissary prices that can consume over half of an incarcerated person's monthly income, and firsthand accounts of the indignity this crisis creates.

Overview Naloxone can save the lives of minors experiencing opioid overdose. Opioid education and naloxone distribution programs cluster around Montana’s larger cities which leaves rural…

The Network for Public Health Law’s Racial Health Equity Legal and Policy Cohort (RHE Cohort) helps public health departments, community organizations, and advocates use law and policy to address structural racism and advance racial justice. Through tailored legal technical assistance, training, and peer learning, the program strengthens the capacity of organizations to design and implement equity-focused strategies that improve community health. This factsheet shares real examples of how the Cohort supports organizations across the country in tackling structural barriers and advancing racial justice and health equity.

Overview Reproductive health information is often highly sensitive, and its disclosure and misuse can have harmful consequences, such as stigma, harassment, criminalization, and barriers to…

Overview The Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System (PRAMS) is a joint surveillance project between health departments and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)…

Overview Harm reduction programs and clients face ongoing threats from law enforcement in many areas of the country. Additionally, programs and clients increasingly fear action…

Overview More than half of state legislatures have recently enacted measures to further fortify parental rights. Because these laws are largely driven by politics, they…

Overview On November 25, 2025, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services announced a policy of sharing CMS data with the Department of Homeland Security…

Overview Twenty-five years after the finalization of the Privacy Rule, the public health landscape—particularly with respect to information technology and the way information is submitted…

Overview Artificial intelligence (AI), particularly generative AI, is being used with increasing frequency at all levels of federal and state government, including by state, tribal,…