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States who imposed strict abortion laws this year were already more likely to have significantly higher maternal and infant death rates as well as fewer doctors providing care to women, according to an analysis released Wednesday by an influential nonprofit research group. (Flaherty, 12/14)

According to the report, states that heavily restricted abortion access in 2020 had maternal death rates that were 62% higher than they were in states where abortion was more easily accessible. The disparity may be aggravated by state-level changes after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in June, the report says. (Madani, 12/14)

Republican Gov. Phil Scott on Tuesday signed the document inscribing the Reproductive Liberty Amendment into the Vermont Constitution, formally changing the state’s founding document to protect reproductive rights including abortion. Scott also signed a second constitutional amendment stating that slavery and indentured servitude are prohibited in the state. (Ring, 12/13)

A second legal challenge that has blocked Indiana’s abortion ban from being enforced could also be headed to the state Supreme Court. The Indiana attorney general’s office asked the state’s highest court to review a county judge’s Dec. 2 ruling that the abortion ban adopted in August by the Republican-dominated Legislature violates the state’s 2015 religious freedom law signed by GOP then-Gov. Mike Pence. (Davies, 12/13)

Abortion patients and doctors are urging a federal appeals court to overrule a three-judge panel's order last month upholding a 2016 Indiana law that requires healthcare providers to bury or cremate fetal remains, rather than incinerate them with medical waste. (Pierson, 12/13)