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Planned Parenthood’s Asheville clinic, the only abortion provider in western North Carolina, is temporarily closed because of damage inflicted by the remnants of Hurricane Helene — taxing an already strained environment of abortion access. Helene, which brought historic rainfalls to western North Carolina, tore a path of destruction across the region. Buncombe, the most populous county in western North Carolina and home to the city of Asheville, was among the hardest hit. At least 72 people died. (Crumpler, 10/11)

Â鶹ŮÓÅ Health News: Abortion Emerges As Most Important Election Issue For Young Women, Poll Finds

Abortion has emerged as the most important issue in the November election for women under 30, according to a survey by Â鶹ŮÓŠ— a notable change since late spring, before Vice President Kamala Harris entered the presidential race. Nearly 4 in 10 women under 30 surveyed in September and early October told pollsters that abortion is the most important issue to their vote. Just 20% named abortion as their top issue when Â鶹ŮÓÅ conducted a similar survey in late May and early June. (Wayne and Adams, 10/11)

North Dakota won’t be allowed to enforce its near total abortion ban while the state appeals a judge’s ruling that struck down the law. The latest decision by District Judge Bruce Romanick means that, for now, his September ruling stands while the state appeals it to the North Dakota Supreme Court. No abortion clinics have operated in North Dakota since the Red River Women’s Clinic moved from Fargo to nearby Moorhead, Minnesota, in 2022. (Dura, 10/10)

The Florida Supreme Court on Thursday unanimously rejected an attempt to block Gov. Ron DeSantis' administration from using government resources to advocate against the state's abortion access ballot measure. It's the second failed legal action that sought to stop state officials' alleged election interference in trying to tank support for Amendment 4, which would ensure abortion access if it gets at least 60% of Floridians' vote. (Soule, 10/10)

A Texas man has dropped wrongful death claims against three women he says assisted his former wife in obtaining medicine for an unlawful abortion. Marcus Silva abandoned the case and agreed to not try it again, according to a district court filing in Galveston County on Thursday. ... In exchange for dropping the case, two of the women Silva sued agreed to drop counterclaims against him for invasion of privacy and for accessing a computer without the owner’s consent, court records show. (Autullo, 10/11)

One round of in vitro fertilization or IVF can cost you around $20,000 (or more). It's a multi-step process that involves retrieving eggs from ovaries, fertilizing them in a lab, watching the embryos develop, and then transferring them into the uterus. For those who are lucky enough to get pregnant and have a baby, it can take several cycles to get there. It’s so expensive that access to insurance coverage for IVF is basically access, period. (Simmons-Duffin, 10/10)