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I’ve found my silver lining in this special session about abortion legislation. As I listened to debates, discussions and testimonies, I heard renewed attention on the symbiotic issues of maternal mortality and infant mortality. Ever since I learned of Indiana’s abysmal track record of keeping people alive after delivery, I’ve made it my mission to illuminate the issue whenever I can. (Boyd, 8/2)

People said they worry what options they would have if something were to go wrong with a pregnancy, and about how their doctor would respond if providing them an abortion could lead to a felony charge. “I will do whatever I can to save patients and make the best health care decisions with them and for them,” one medical student said. “This could easily now mean breaking the law and I could go to prison for saving someone’s life.” (Jacobs, 8/2)

Given that abortion laws will now be set by state lawmakers, gerrymandering will have a direct impact on which party controls state legislatures and the direction for abortion laws in the future. (Sheldon H. Jacobson, 8/2)

Sen. Joe Manchin frequently insists that if Democrats take steps to weaken the filibuster, Republicans will do the same when they are in power. Well, Republicans have already weakened Senate rules by lowering the votes needed to confirm Supreme Court justices to a simple majority. Republicans have also already used the reconciliation process in an attempt to pass bills such as the repeal of the Affordable Care Act. That failed because their extreme measures were so unpopular that they could not get even a majority for that. (Jennifer Rubin, 8/2)

The activists ultimately got what they came for, but having to plead for it was a reminder of the disrespect that lawmakers so often have for the people who employ them. On Tuesday, the veterans, military family members and their supporters were on their sixth day outside the Capitol. They were clustered under a few trees in the blessed shade just beyond the Capitol’s east plaza on a morning that was already sweltering. They were there to shame the Senate into passing the PACT Act, which extends health-care benefits to veterans who were exposed to toxins from the enormous pits in which the military regularly disposed of waste. (Robin Givhan, 8/2)