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Louisiana’s new law categorizing two widely used abortion drugs as “controlled dangerous substances” was challenged in a state court lawsuit Thursday by a physician, a pharmacist and others who say the legislation sets up needless, dangerous delays in treatment during medical emergencies. Although there already was a near-total abortion ban in Louisiana, including by medication, the reclassification of the drugs — mifepristone and misoprostol, which have other critical reproductive health care uses — went into effect earlier this month. (Cline and McGill, 10/31)

A group of health care providers and two Louisiana women who were denied abortion care are suing state officials to block a new law that makes common pregnancy medications controlled dangerous substances, arguing the law is discriminatory and unconstitutional. The plaintiffs include Birthmark Doula Collective in New Orleans, Dr. Emily Holt, a New Orleans family medicine physician, Shreveport pharmacist Kaylee Self, who is pregnant, and Nancy Davis and Kaitlyn Joshua, two Baton Rouge women who were denied abortion care in 2022 after Louisiana’s near-total ban took effect. (Westwood, 10/31)

It often starts with suspicion: Why didn’t she call for an ambulance when the bleeding started? What if she didn’t want the baby? Maybe she took something — or inquired about abortion pills? How a person handles a pregnancy loss — and where it occurs — can mean the difference between a private medical issue and a criminal charge for abuse of a corpse, child neglect or even murder. (Aspinwall, 10/31)

Candace Fails screamed for someone in the Texas hospital to help her pregnant daughter. “Do something,” she pleaded, on the morning of Oct. 29, 2023. Nevaeh Crain was crying in pain, too weak to walk, blood staining her thighs. Feverish and vomiting the day of her baby shower, the 18-year-old had gone to two different emergency rooms within 12 hours, returning home each time worse than before. (Presser and Surana, 11/1)

California Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta blasted the city of Beverly Hills in a news conference Thursday, accusing city officials of colluding to keep out a third-trimester abortion clinic last year. Bonta opened an investigation after DuPont Clinic accused Beverly Hills of conspiring with antiabortion activists and pressuring its landlord to back out of a lease that would’ve allowed the reproductive healthcare provider to open an abortion clinic on Wilshire Boulevard. The battle thrust the city into the national spotlight, testing California’s reputation as a haven for reproductive rights. (Flemming, 10/31)