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State lawmakers are advancing a measure giving women the opportunity to sue over physical or emotional injuries from an abortion. The measure could impact doctors’ liability insurance. Doctors can already be brought to court through the medical malpractice system, but Vero Beach Republican Representative Erin Grall’s bill would give patients a new way to sue for physical or emotional damages. (Evans, 2/13)

Abortion rates are at an all-time low in California, and both sides of the political aisle are taking credit. New abortion data from the Guttmacher Institute, a nonprofit organization that studies reproductive health, shows that fewer women than ever are obtaining abortions nationwide. Abortion opponents call it proof that their efforts to sway women away from the procedure are working, while abortion rights advocates point to increased sexual education and contraceptive use as drivers of the decline. (Caiola and Reese, 2/13)

Iowans overwhelmingly support continued public funding to Planned Parenthood for health services that do not include abortion, according to a new Des Moines Register/Mediacom Iowa Poll. Seventy-seven percent of adult Iowans surveyed favor continued state funding for non-abortive services at Planned Parenthood, up 3 percentage points from February 2016. Eighteen percent do not support that funding going to Planned Parenthood and 5 percent are not sure. The poll found 62 percent of Republicans believe non-abortion funding should continue, as do 62 percent of evangelical Christians. (Petroski, 2/13)

As Republicans in Congress seek to cut off federal funds to Planned Parenthood, Gov. Dannel P. Malloy has proposed legislation that would allow the state to make up any federal Medicaid dollars the clinics would lose. ... But Chris McClure, a spokesman for Malloy’s budget office, said the language included in one of the governor’s budget bills is intended to “ensure there is no disruption in family planning services provided to Medicaid recipients.” (Levin Becker, 2/14)