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A well-known Catholic priest and incendiary leader of the anti-abortion movement was removed from the priesthood by the Vatican, according to a letter from Pope Francis’ representative to the United States that was obtained by The New York Times. Frank Pavone, who leads the advocacy organization Priests for Life, and was once a religious adviser to former President Donald J. Trump, was dismissed from the clergy on Nov. 9 with no possibility of appeal, the letter states. The letter included a statement about the removal, called laicization, that it said was approved by the Dicastery for the Clergy, a Vatican office. (Dias and Graham, 12/18)

Mr. Pavone didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment on Sunday but seemed to allude to his dismissal on Twitter, writing: “So in every profession, including the priesthood, if you defend the #unborn, you will be treated like them!” Pope Francis‘ envoy to the U.S., Archbishop Christophe Pierre, wrote to U.S. bishops in a Dec. 13 letter, reviewed by The Wall Street Journal, to inform them of Mr. Pavone’s dismissal. Archbishop Pierre said the Vatican had informed him that Mr. Pavone had been dismissed from the priesthood on Nov. 9, with “no possibility of appeal.” (Rocca, 12/18)

Pope Francis said he signed a letter of resignation in the first year of his reign to provide for the possibility that he would become incapable of fulfilling his duties. “I signed it and said, ‘If I should become impaired for medical reasons or whatever, here is my resignation,’” the pope told the Spanish daily newspaper ABC in an interview published Sunday. (Rocca, 12/18)

Lauren Overman has a suggested shopping list for her clients preparing to get an abortion. The list includes: a heating pad, a journal, aromatherapy oils – things that could bring them some physical or emotional comfort after the procedure. Overman is an abortion doula. (Donnelly, 12/19)

Last year Tamara Nelson was a pregnant mother of three, denied an abortion under Texas’ restrictive laws. More recently, she told fund-raising gala attendees how Blue Haven Ranch, a faith-based, anti-abortion nonprofit, supported her when no one else would. ... Cason is now nearly 6 months old and Ms. Nelson has some freelance work as a bookkeeper, but she worries about how she will make it on her own. “I’m not ready for that,” she said. (Williamson, 12/18)

Nakeenya Wilson was at a meeting of Texas’ maternal mortality review committee when she got the call: Her sister, who had recently had a baby, was having a stroke. Wilson raced to the hospital, leaving behind a stack of files documenting the stories of women who had died from pregnancy and childbirth complications. Many of the women in those files were Black, just like Wilson, who experienced a traumatic delivery herself. (Klibanoff, 12/17)

During the midterm elections, five states — Alabama, Oregon, Vermont, Louisiana, and Tennessee — put to vote initiatives purported to prohibit the use of slavery and indentured servitude as a punishment for crime, an antiquated allowance given by the 13th Amendment 157 years ago this month that prisons across the country still use. (Gilyard, 12/16)