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The Arkansas secretary of state on Wednesday rejected an effort for an abortion-rights ballot measure that would ensure access to the procedure up to 18 weeks in the state. In a letter to Arkansas for Limited Government — the group behind the effort — Secretary of State John Thurston said the group did not submit the required statements about paid signature gatherers. The group, in a statement Wednesday, said it was “alarmed and outraged” by Thurston’s letter. The group said it worked with the secretary of state’s office to ensure all rules and regulations were followed. (Nazzaro, 7/10)

Supporters of a ballot measure that would amend Arizona's constitution to establish a right to abortion sued Republican lawmakers on Wednesday over language in a pamphlet to be distributed to voters before they go to the polls in November, saying the document's use of the phrase "unborn human" is not neutral. Arizona for Abortion Access, the group behind the ballot measure, in its lawsuit asked the Maricopa County Superior Court for an order requiring the Arizona Legislative Council, a committee of lawmakers overseeing the pamphlet, to adopt "impartial" language. The group said "fetus" would be "a neutral, objective, and medically accurate term uniformly used by medical professionals and government agencies." (Pierson, 7/10)

With polls showing ballot measures restoring abortion rights in Florida and legalizing recreational marijuana supported by most voters, Gov. Ron DeSantis is facing an uphill fight in his campaign to defeat them this fall.  The Republican governor has just a trickle of the torrent of money he’s looking to raise for his Florida Freedom Fund, a political committee he intends to weaponize against the proposals, which defy the hard right direction in which he’s moved the state. But until more money arrives, DeSantis is mostly on his own. (Kennedy, 7/10)

With states now firmly in control of laws determining abortion access, the last several years have seen a rash of increasingly restrictive state-level policies. While the Supreme Court preserved women’s access to the abortion pill earlier this month, its decision was a narrow one; lawmakers in red states will continue attempts to ban mifepristone or seek to restrict abortion access in other ways. The Supreme Court’s ruling on emergency abortions in Idaho due to dire pregnancy complications may likewise offer only a temporary reprieve: the Supreme Court merely lifted a stay that had blocked the policy in wake of Idaho’s strict ban on virtually all abortions and remanded the case back to the lower courts. (Deckman, 7/11)

Senate Republicans on Wednesday blocked legislation led by Democrats to revive the protections of Roe v. Wade in the wake of the Supreme Court eliminating the nationwide right to abortion. The vote was 49-44, falling short of the super-majority needed to defeat a filibuster due to broad opposition from Republicans, who dismissed it as a political stunt. (Kapur and Thorp V, 7/10)

The Massachusetts House unanimously approved legislation Wednesday that would ban companies from selling cellphone location data collected during visits to reproductive and gender-affirming care clinics. Democratic House Speaker Ronald Mariano said the goal is to ensure that the right to receive and provide that type of care remains ironclad in Massachusetts. (LeBlanc, 7/10)

The Biden administration on Wednesday rolled out its latest election-year initiative on women's health, proposing standards that would require the hospital industry to invest billions in maternity care improvements to remain in Medicare. Why it matters: Maternal health has proven to be a winning issue for Democrats as restrictive abortion laws and insufficient care draw attention to poor access and outcomes. (Goldman, 7/11)