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The Ohio legislature moved Wednesday to cut off $1.3 million in public health grants to Planned Parenthood in a closely watched vote that could have repercussions for the surging presidential campaign of Gov. John Kasich (R). The bill, which cleared the Senate last month and passed the House on Wednesday, prohibits the Ohio Department of Health from giving state or federal grants to organizations that conduct or “promote” abortions. Kasich, who placed second in the Republican primary in New Hampshire on Tuesday, has said he would sign the bill. (Somashekhar, 2/10)

House Bill 294, which passed 59 to 32, blocks women's health providers that also provide abortions, or groups that refer patients to those providers, from receiving funds from a variety of state and federal grants. Planned Parenthood said the bill would hinder lower-income women's access to testing for sexually transmitted diseases, HIV tests and well-baby programs. According to its website, Planned Parenthood has 20 clinics in Ohio. Two provide abortions and all provide abortion referral. (Palmer, 2/10)

Planned Parenthood is not named in the legislation. But the bill's backers have acknowledged the organization will be the most affected. They want the money to go to health centers and other providers that do not perform abortions. Stephanie Ranade Krider, executive director of Ohio Right to Life, called the passage a victory for the anti-abortion movement. "For a state like Ohio — it's a purple state — to be able to pass something like defunding Planned Parenthood, I think that gives hope to other states." (2/10)

Abortion opponents in Mississippi, West Virginia and several other states are filing bills to ban an abortion procedure commonly used in the second trimester that opponents describe as dismembering a fetus. Courts have already blocked similar laws that Kansas and Oklahoma enacted in 2015. The New York-based Center for Reproductive Rights, which represents abortion providers in legal fights, says banning the dilation and evacuation method of abortion — commonly called "D&E" — is unconstitutional because it interferes with private medical decisions. (2/10)

The state of Louisiana on Wednesday asked a federal appeals court to overturn a judge's decision to block a 2014 law that imposed tough restrictions on Louisiana abortion providers and threatened to close four of the state's five clinics. The law requires physicians who perform the procedure to have admitting privileges at a hospital within 30 miles (48 km) of the place where the abortion is performed. In an order filed Wednesday, U.S. Judge John deGravelles finalized his January ruling granting a preliminary injunction sought by abortion providers who argued the law violated women's rights to obtain an abortion. (Brooks, 2/10)

Two state health researchers in Texas are under fire for co-authoring a study suggesting what Republican leaders have long disputed: cuts to Planned Parenthood are restricting access to women's health care. Texas Health Commissioner Chris Traylor has not said whether the researchers, one a high-level director with more than 20 years in state government, will be disciplined. But a spokesman made it clear that the agency agrees with outraged Republicans over the researchers' contributions to a study that the GOP sees as flawed and biased. (2/10)

An abortion law in Texas that opponents say is imposing substantial obstacles for Latinas who want to terminate their pregnancies is headed to the U.S. Supreme Court next month. On Wednesday Latina and women's groups held a rally calling for an end to the law. (Nevarez, 2/10)

The Planned Parenthood clinic in Colorado Springs is set to reopen next week, more than two months after an attack that left three people dead and several others wounded. The health care provider says the location will resume full service Monday in what is expected to be a tearful — yet joyous — step. About one-third of the building will reopen. (Paul, 2/8)