Lorena O’Neil
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lorenaoneil.com
Lorena O’Neil
@lorenaoneil.com
NOLA freelancer reporting on repro health, politics, culture, tech

Contributing writer at Rolling Stone & nonprofit newsroom @lailluminator.bsky.social

Bylines: The GuardianUS, Elle, The LA Times, Marie Claire, Jezebel

https://www.lorenaoneil.com
Before calling New Orleans "quite bad" and threatening to send the National Guard here, Trump once called it a "sexy city" and hyped up a Trump Tower NOLA (which never happened despite post-Katrina promises) @rollingstone.com www.rollingstone.com/politics/pol...
September 3, 2025 at 9:25 PM
Also… please don’t miss the intro website Trump Tower New Orleans had. It featured Trump, Don Jr. and Ivanka in masquerade masks. Just in case you need a pick-me up today for whatever reason.
August 30, 2025 at 2:17 PM
Even Louisiana state lawmakers are confused about the legality of mifepristone and misoprostol, as was shown recently while talking about new legislation that would allow families to sue over suspected abortions. (HB575 is a bill to keep an eye on as it heads to state senate.)
June 6, 2025 at 3:16 PM
One mother who miscarried said: "I was denied misoprostol, essentially leaving me with my dead baby inside of me even longer because the pharmacist said he couldn’t give it to me. It was more horrific than it needed to be.”
June 6, 2025 at 3:10 PM
The political assault on the medications continues to ramp up on the state & national level. La. doctors detail challenges accessing misoprostol for their patients. One OB had to manually dilate their patient's cervix because they couldn't get misoprostol for a hysteroscopy
June 6, 2025 at 3:06 PM
An October entry says: “The problem with most revolutionary acts is that the message is lost on normies." It mentions Unabomber Ted Kaczynski: "By committing indiscriminate atrocities — he becomes a monster, which makes his ideas those of a monster, no matter how true."
June 5, 2025 at 2:26 PM
The Manhattan DA provided images of what they say are handwritten notes Luigi Mangione wrote in the months leading up to the assassination of United Health Care CEO Brian Thompson. rollingstone.com/culture/cult...
@rollingstone.com
June 5, 2025 at 2:20 PM
Mangione's lawyers request is for his hand shackles to be removed, not his leg shackles. Their argument is that Mangione has not shown himself to be a security or flight risk and he's often visited (unshackled) in a large open room with children present.
June 3, 2025 at 9:09 PM
The lawyers mention that a photograph of Mangione's shackled ankles garnered more than 36 million views at his Feb. 21 appearance
June 3, 2025 at 9:08 PM
Luigi Mangione's lawyers request to remove bulletproof vest and hand shackles ahead of his appearance on June 26 at state court. "To counsel's knowledge, there have been no threats to Mr. Mangione's safety, and the only one wishing to execute him is the federal government."
June 3, 2025 at 9:07 PM
"If the president is in any way confused about his responsibility, he should resign. Trump wants to transform the definition of what it means to be an American — from upholding the Constitution and our freedoms — to a pledge of loyalty to him." - @aoc.bsky.social
May 30, 2025 at 2:10 PM
I asked @aoc.bsky.social about the Trump administration deporting U.S. citizen children with cancer: "If this president is breaking the Constitution and if he’s starting to deport and force out U.S. citizens from this country, that, to me, is shut-it-down territory." @rollingstone.com
May 30, 2025 at 1:42 PM
We spoke about the dreaded disappearing ellipsis — that feeling when you can see someone typing and then it stops. "At any age, that ellipsis will kick your butt," Akil said laughing.
May 10, 2025 at 1:21 AM
"I posit that the Black boy is the most vulnerable [person in society]," Akil told me. "Mentally, emotionally, physically." She developed the adaptation in 2020.
May 10, 2025 at 1:20 AM
In the case of the other family, where the mom was pregnant, a judge has issued a clarification of the May 16 hearing about what happened. He revealed he received the case one minute before the plane carrying the families reached El Paso on the way to Honduras.
April 30, 2025 at 8:58 PM
This family had an immigration attorney present when they arrived at the check-in and she says officials refused to let her attend with her client. By the next morning, the family was in Honduras
April 30, 2025 at 8:57 PM
DHS identified the mothers who were deported and continued doubling down on their claim they chose to bring their children with them. Attorneys for both moms vehemently deny this, and say the families are seeking medical care in the aftermath
April 30, 2025 at 8:54 PM
Death Penalty Action executive director Abraham Bonowitz released a statement calling it a “hypocritical political stunt” by Bondi.
April 25, 2025 at 6:47 PM
Rep. Josh Carlson (R) proposes replacing the word “intentionally” with “knowingly” and removes “physical” to describe the use of force or intimidation. The bill details 18 examples of force, control or intimidation and removes references to outpatient abortion facilities.
April 7, 2025 at 10:40 PM
The teams that focused on preventing domestic abuse and sexual assault were both entirely dismantled. Survivors are the ones that are going to be impacted the most by these layoffs.
April 7, 2025 at 2:55 PM
Louisiana OB-GYN Dr. Nicole Freehill is extremely worried about all of the CDC cuts, particularly to IVF research: "If this administration is so pro-life, why are they cutting this?"
April 7, 2025 at 2:54 PM
The entire Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System (PRAMS) team was laid off. That program was developed to identify women and infants at high risk of health problems, with the goal of reducing infant mortality and morbidity.
April 7, 2025 at 2:53 PM
"Without the support staff, we can't do our science" one principal investigator and neuroscientist at NIH tells me.
April 2, 2025 at 3:28 PM
Also gutted? Two of the three branches of the CDC's Division of Reproductive Health.
April 2, 2025 at 3:26 PM
“The amount of knowledge that is being purged today at CDC is just tragic," said one CDC staffer. Another told
@swin24.bsky.social: "Shitshow is an understatement."
April 2, 2025 at 3:24 PM