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In 2014 — the first full year since restrictions on abortion doctors, pills and clinics forced facilities to close — women in Texas had 9,000 fewer abortions than the year before. That's a 14 percent drop in abortions statewide, a much bigger drop than seen in previous years. But among Texas' Hispanic women, the drop in abortions was especially steep: The number dropped 18 percent from 2013 to 2014, data shows. (McSwane and Martin, 7/18)

Not only do the sisters hope their reimplanted ovaries will help them get pregnant, they are also hoping the procedure will reverse their menopause. "I'm really excited," Sarah [Gardner] says. "It will be really nice to not have another hot flash." The approach was originally developed for women who are being treated for cancer and hope to preserve their fertility, but don't have time to freeze their eggs. Some cancer treatments can destroy fertility. (Stein, 7/19)

If you're a woman who gets screening mammograms, you may have received a letter telling you that your scan was clear, but that you have dense breasts, a risk factor for breast cancer. About half of U.S. states require providers to notify women if they fall into that category. But what you may not know is that gauging breast density isn't a clear-cut process. Researchers reporting in Annals of Internal Medicine Monday found that density assessments varied widely from one radiologist to another. That means you shouldn't let one finding freak you out too much, nor should you assume something's wrong if your reported density changes from year to year. (Hobson, 7/18)

Episiotomy, a once-common childbirth procedure ... has been officially discouraged in most cases for a decade. Yet it is still being performed at much higher than recommended rates in certain hospitals and by certain doctors. (Weiner, 7/19)

Dawn Laguens’s day job gives her a bit of extra ammunition as the mom of 17-year-old identical triplets — all girls. Laguens, the executive vice president of Planned Parenthood Federation of America, has championed access to no-copay birth control and accurate sex education. She fought to reverse Susan G. Komen for the Cure’s decision to stop funding preventive care at Planned Parenthood. She’s also embarrassed her daughters by talking about sex while their friends are over. (Thielking, 7/19)

By some estimates, about 40 percent of HIV infections are associated with biological mechanisms — mechanisms that scientists are just beginning to unravel. Some of that unraveling is being done in real time. At the International AIDS Conference in Durban today, researchers at the Center for the AIDS Programme of Research in South Africa (CAPRISA) will unveil startling new evidence of a bacterial culprit that could be responsible for as many as two out of every five new cases of HIV among women. They’ll also reveal how another bacteria blocks the effectiveness of those pills [Jacqualine] Ncube takes. (Boerner, 7/18)