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North Dakota on Monday adopted one of the strictest anti-abortion laws in the country as Republican Gov. Doug Burgum signed legislation banning the procedure throughout pregnancy, with slim exceptions up to six weeks’ gestation. In those early weeks, abortion would be allowed only in cases of rape, incest or medical emergency, such as ectopic pregnancy. “This bill clarifies and refines existing state law ... and reaffirms North Dakota as a pro-life state,” Burgum said in a statement. (Ahmed, 4/25)

A federal judge in Idaho signaled Monday he is leaning toward issuing an order aimed at blocking the use of that state’s strict abortion ban to prosecute doctors who refer patients to other states to terminate a pregnancy. During a hour-long hearing, U.S. District Court Judge B. Lynn Winmill did not rule on the request from two Idaho doctors and several Planned Parenthood organizations who said their First Amendment rights were in danger as a result of a letter Idaho Attorney General Raul Labrador issued last month indicating that out-of-state referrals would violate the law. (Gerstein, 4/24)

The owner of a Catholic clinic challenging Colorado’s new ban on unproven treatments to reverse medication abortions testified Monday that a state pledge not to enforce the ban for now wasn’t enough to protect her staff and patients. At a hearing in federal court, Dede Chism, co-founder and CEO of Bella Health and Wellness, said state lawmakers’ comments during debate on the measure about wanting to come after faith-based clinics like hers made her fearful. She said she worried about what could happen at the clinic if she continued to offer the treatments to women who wanted to stop a medication abortion. (Slevin, 4/24)

The judge looked over his bench Monday at the attorney before him and posed a question that has consumed the nation’s abortion policy debate in the exactly 10 months since the U.S. Supreme Court blew that policy to smithereens and unleashed a torrent of new laws and lawsuits seeking to reshape the landscape. “My question,” U.S. District Court Judge Daniel D. Domenico asked an attorney for a religious health clinic seeking to block a recently adopted Colorado law, “is what can I do now?” (Ingold, 4/25)

The day after her 22d birthday, a woman sits under a blanket clutching her abdomen in a room lit by a single lamp. A little more than 18 weeks pregnant, she has traveled nearly nine hours from her home to Missoula, a college town in the western Montana mountains, for a surgical abortion at the Blue Mountain Clinic. The next day, a squirmy six-month-old waits with her parents for a check-up at the primary care facility in Missoula. And later that week, a 71-year-old man consults his doctor on ways to manage pain from prostate cancer. This breadth of services has attracted patients from far and wide to Blue Mountain Clinic, one of a few facilities in Montana that offer abortions, along with psychiatric treatment, gender-affirming and general care. (O'Hare, 4/21)

As the fight over abortion rights continues, a clinic in Casper that provides both surgical and medical abortion is finally open. The clinic was torched by an arsonist last spring. The arson suspect was arrested and charged in mid-March. (Kudelska, 4/21)

The Republican-controlled South Carolina Senate is set to rehash an ongoing disagreement with the GOP-dominated House over when the conservative state should ban abortion. Lawmakers have less than three weeks left to pass any new restrictions in a legislative session that began days after the state’s highest court overturned a 2021 law and followed last year’s contentious special session that resulted in a legislative impasse. (Pollard, 4/25)

Republican U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson on Monday renewed his call for a statewide vote in Wisconsin on abortion rights, saying he thought most voters would support a ban after 12 weeks of pregnancy. Johnson declined to say how he would vote, however. Johnson won reelection to a third term in November, one of only two Republicans to win statewide in Wisconsin since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion. Johnson said Monday at the Milwaukee Press Club that abortion has been an “important factor” in Democrats’ recent wins. (Bauer, 4/24)

Former Vice President Mike Pence said Monday that ending abortion is “more important than politics,” which is his latest anti-abortion remarks made as the legal fight for abortion is ongoing. “Well, I think defending the unborn first and foremost is more important than politics. I really believe it’s the calling of our time,” Pence said on NewsNation’s debut episode of “The Hill” Monday. (Sforza, 4/24)

�������ýҕ�l Health News: Listen: Mifepristone Remains Available For Now. What Happens Next?

The Supreme Court has ruled that the abortion pill mifepristone should remain widely available for now, a decision that maintains access to the drug while the lower courts consider the issue. Julie Rovner, �������ýҕ�l Health News’ chief Washington correspondent, appeared on NPR’s “Weekend All Things Considered” to explain the complicated, even contradictory court decisions surrounding mifepristone and what they mean for patients and providers. (4/24)