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Gov. Ron DeSantis and other Florida Republican leaders have repeatedly tapped into taxpayer-funded resources to fight a November ballot initiative that would overturn the state’s six-week abortion ban. Their repeated efforts — from a state-run website attacking the amendment to election police questioning signers of the petition to get the measure on the ballot — have drawn them into a protracted legal fight with the campaign behind the initiative, which will appear before voters as Amendment 4. It is an escalation of government overreach, amendment supporters say. (Sarkissian, 9/20)

Florida health officials told physicians Thursday that abortion is permitted “at any stage in pregnancy” to save the life and health of the mother, and regulatory action will be taken against any providers who don’t offer that care.  In a notice to providers, the Florida Department of Health and the Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA) said Florida “requires life-saving medical care to a mother without delay when necessary.” (Weixel, 9/19)

The state of North Dakota is asking a judge to pause his ruling from last week that struck down the state’s abortion ban until the state Supreme Court rules on a planned appeal. The state’s motion to stay a pending appeal was filed Wednesday. State District Judge Bruce Romanick ruled last week that North Dakota’s abortion ban “is unconstitutionally void for vagueness,” and that pregnant women in the state have a fundamental right to abortion before viability under the state constitution. (Dura, 9/19)

More information emerged Thursday about the confusion that wrecked plans for a trial next week on South Dakota’s abortion-rights ballot measure, but no new trial date has been scheduled, while a motions hearing has been scheduled for nearly a month after the election. A judge signed an order last month saying the trial would take place the week of Sept. 23 in Sioux Falls. On Tuesday of this week, the judge emailed the parties saying the matter still needed to be added to the court calendar. The email surprised lawyers on both sides who had been planning for the Sept. 23 trial. (Haiar, 9/19)

In the most contested races for control of the U.S. House, many Republican candidates are speaking up about women’s rights to abortion access and reproductive care in new and surprising ways, a deliberate shift for a GOP blindsided by some political ramifications of the post-Roe v. Wade era. Looking directly into the camera for ads, or penning personal op-eds in local newspapers, the Republicans are trying to distance themselves from some of the more aggressive anti-abortion ideas coming from their party and its allies. Instead the Republican candidates are working quickly to spell out their own views separate from a GOP that for decades has worked to put restrictions on reproductive care. (Mascaro, 9/19)

A new abortion clinic in Pittsburg, Kansas, is now the state’s fourth clinic offering access to abortions. In the month it’s been opened, the abortion clinic has already served patients in Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Texas, and Louisiana. The new clinic is just a five-mile drive from Missouri's border. (Schoenig, 9/19)

A health care proposal suggested by Republican vice presidential candidate JD Vance could gut a popular Affordable Care Act protection, making it legal for companies to charge more for or deny coverage of expensive medical conditions, including pregnancy. (Luthra, 9/19)

Amanda Duffy said she didn't even realize stillbirth was a risk when she was pregnant with her daughter, Reese, a decade ago. But when she arrived 16 hours before her scheduled delivery, she was already gone. ... She is not alone in her grief: 1 in 160 pregnancies end in stillbirth, according to the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. Some reports suggest 25% of stillbirths are potentially avoidable. (Cummings, 9/19)

Sara McGinnis was nine months pregnant with her second child and something felt off. Her body was swollen. She was tired and dizzy. Her husband, Bradley McGinnis, said she had told her doctor and nurses about her symptoms and even went to the emergency room when they worsened. But, Bradley said, what his wife was told in response was, “‘It’s summertime and you’re pregnant.’ That haunts me.” Two days later, Sara had a massive stroke followed by a seizure. (Houghton, 9/20)