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An Illinois judge has suspended a state requirement that health care providers who oppose abortion must give information or referrals to patients seeking the procedure. Winnebago County Judge Eugene Doherty granted an injunction Tuesday in a lawsuit brought by medical providers who oppose abortion, saying they "raised a fair question as to whether their right to be free from government compelled speech is violated." (12/21)

The state of Illinois cannot, for now, force a group of clinics that refuse to perform abortions to direct patients to doctors who will do the procedure, a state judge has ruled. Winnebago County Circuit Judge Eugene Doherty issued a preliminary injunction Tuesday in favor of a handful of clinics in Chicago and elsewhere, temporarily barring the state from requiring them to follow a law that takes effect Jan. 1.  It's the first court to weigh in on the law, signed by Gov. Bruce Rauner earlier this year, which requires physicians who don't want to perform abortions for moral reasons to help patients access abortion services elsewhere, if patients ask. (Schencker, 12/21)

Planned Parenthood is poised to end 2016 in a familiar place: in court, asking a judge to stop a Republican-controlled state from blocking Medicaid dollars. Here's how the nation's largest abortion provider got there and what's next. (Weber, 12/21)