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Abortion policy in America is at a stalemate. Republicans will take control of Congress in January, ready to block any national protections—but with a slim majority, making a national ban unlikely. At the state level, pro-choice advocates have focused for the past two years on ballot measures to protect abortion rights. Most of those measures have passed; now there are only two states left that have severe restrictions, allow constitutional amendments, and haven’t already failed to pass constitutional protections. (Brown, 12/3)

Less than an hour after California’s attorney general announced new plans to bolster the state’s protections for people seeking abortions, a federal appeals court reinstated part of an Idaho law that criminalizes efforts to help a minor obtain an abortion in another state without her parents’ consent. The dueling actions highlight the divergence between states seeking to protect reproductive freedoms and those clamping down on them. They also illustrate that laws like California’s, while shielding their residents from most legal actions by other states, cannot offer complete protection. (Egelko, 12/3)

Abortion-rights advocates are asking a judge Wednesday to overturn Missouri’s near-total ban on the procedure, less than a month after voters backed an abortion-rights constitutional amendment. Jackson County Circuit Judge Jerri Zhang was set to hear arguments from Planned Parenthood and the state’s Republican Attorney General’s Office over whether to issue a temporary order blocking enforcement of Missouri’s numerous abortion laws. (Ballentine and Hollingsworth, 12/4)

When Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey was campaigning for a full four-year term, he claimed, like many Republicans at the time, that a proposed constitutional amendment legalizing abortion could do profound damage to the state’s other abortion restrictions. During a stop in Chesterfield on the day before the November general election, Bailey said Amendment 3 was a “legal monstrosity” that could open the door to a “parade of horribles.” (Rosenbaum, 12/3)

Reproductive rights advocates sued Arizona on Tuesday to undo a 15-week abortion ban that conflicts with a constitutional amendment recently approved by voters to expand access up to fetal viability. The American Civil Liberties Union, Planned Parenthood and the Center for Reproductive Rights filed the lawsuit in Maricopa County Superior Court on behalf of the local chapter of Planned Parenthood and two physicians, arguing the law interferes with pregnant Arizonans’ fundamental right to abortion and individual autonomy. It’s the first step in efforts to dismantle existing laws they say are too restrictive. (Govindarao, 12/3)

Court rulings have given Wellspring Health Access the right to continue providing abortion services in the face of laws banning the practice. Now it awaits a final ruling by the Wyoming Supreme Court. (Klingsporn, 12/4)

Birth assistant, advocate, companion—these are all roles a doula can play for a woman who is pregnant. Now, a new program from Cook County is expanding access for people who need it most. "We usually hear that people want to hire a doula because they don't want to die," said Tayo Mbande, a doula and the cofounder of Chicago Birthworks Collective, "and it's terrible to start your conversation off with somebody trying to avoid death." (Machi, 12/3)

When Shanille Bowens was in grade school, she started listening to her grandmother Bernice replay the sight and sound of her neighbors springing into action each time her body was ready to bear a baby. “She had to call people to go up the hill: ‘Get the midwife,’” said Bowens, 41, a certified birth doula and midwifery student in Memphis. (Gray, 12/3)

"We know that there are inequities or differences in the way that Black individuals or individuals of many different backgrounds either experience their labor and delivery care or their ultimate outcomes," said Dr. Allison Bryant, the Associate Chief Health Equity Officer for Mass General Brigham. Bryant said having a doula or a professional support person can help decrease c-section rates, improve the patient experience and promote breastfeeding but they can be expensive. So Mass General Brigham started a program called Birth Partners, which pairs a doula with an expectant parent of color free of charge. (Marshall, 12/3)

At the annual meeting of the Menopause Society earlier this fall, researchers presented new evidence that hormone therapy can be beneficial to menopausal women’s heart health, reducing insulin resistance and other cardiovascular biomarkers. It was the latest in a long line of research showing the benefits of hormone therapy for women in menopause, which also includes alleviating symptoms like hot flashes, sleep disturbances, vaginal dryness, and pain during sex. (Gaffney, 12/3)