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A Kentucky judge reinstituted the state’s near-total abortion ban Monday, reversing a lower court’s order from less than two weeks ago that temporarily allowed the procedures to continue in the state. The decision by Kentucky Court of Appeals Judge Larry E. Thompson means that abortions are again illegal in the state, unless the mother is at risk of death or serious permanent injury, with no exceptions for rape or incest. Health-care workers who provide abortion services can face up to five years in prison, though mothers are not subject to criminal liability. (Jeong, 8/2)

A Michigan judge on Monday granted Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s request to temporarily block enforcement of the state’s pre-Roe abortion ban. Hours earlier, an appellate court said in a separate case that county officials were free to bring such prosecutions, concluding that a lower court’s ruling blocking enforcement of the pre-Roe ban only applied to state officials. (Sneed and Cole, 8/1)

Two North Dakota Democratic lawmakers on Monday called for an attorney general’s opinion on the state’s abortion restrictions, saying clarity in needed to ensure care is not denied in or delayed in emergency situations. Reps. Zac Ista, of Grand Forks, and Karla Rose Hanson, of Fargo, said discrepancies in state law could result in victims of rape having to get permission from a spouse to obtain an abortion, or in doctors not treating ectopic pregnancies, which occur when an embryo grows outside the womb and often are life-threatening to the women involved. (8/1)

Unions representing healthcare workers are executing plans to help workers who may run afoul of state abortion laws. In the wake of the Supreme Court ruling last month that ended the federal right to abortion access and cleared the way for restrictive state laws, healthcare workers are anxious that treatment choices they make with patients could put them in legal jeopardy. (Christ, 8/1)

A trial in Minnesota is expected to decide whether a woman’s human rights were violated when a pharmacist denied her request in 2019 to fill a prescription for emergency contraception. Andrea Anderson, a mother of five from McGregor, sued under the Minnesota Human Rights Act after the pharmacist, based on his religious beliefs, refused to accommodate her request. State law prohibits discrimination based on sex, including issues related to pregnancy and childbirth. (8/1)

KHN: Because Of Texas Abortion Law, Her Wanted Pregnancy Became A Medical Nightmare 

New, untested abortion bans have made doctors unsure about treating some pregnancy complications, which has led to life-threatening delays and trapped families in a limbo of grief and helplessness. Elizabeth Weller never dreamed that her hopes for a child would become ensnared in the web of Texas abortion law. (Feibel, 8/2)