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More than 64,000 women and girls became pregnant because of rape in states that implemented abortion bans after Roe v. Wade was overruled, according to a new research estimate published online Wednesday. The research letter, published by JAMA Internal Medicine and headed up by the medical director at Planned Parenthood of Montana, estimated that nearly 520,000 rapes were associated with 64,565 pregnancies across 14 states, most of which had no exceptions that allowed for terminations of pregnancies that occurred as a result of rape. (Lebowitz, 1/24)

Texas saw an estimated 26,313 rape-related pregnancies during the 16 months after the state outlawed all abortions, with no exceptions for survivors of rape or incest, according to a study published Wednesday in the Journal of the American Medical Association. That’s the highest estimate among the 14 states with total abortion bans, with Texas having the largest population, according to the study. (Gill, 1/24)

“Women across our nation should not be subject to extreme and oppressive laws that dictate what they can do with their bodies, including and especially after surviving a violent crime,” Harris said in a statement to the Chronicle. “As a lifelong fighter for the health and wellbeing of women and children, this is immoral. The women of Texas and women of America deserve the freedom to make these personal decisions without the government telling them what to do. I will continue to fight for the fundamental freedoms of everyone throughout the country.” (Gill, 1/24)

President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden have extended an invitation to attend the State of the Union address to a Texas woman who sued her state and lost over the ability to get an abortion to end a wanted pregnancy. The Texas Supreme Court denied Katie Cox’s request. But by then, her lawyers said, she had already traveled out of state for an abortion. The Bidens spoke with Cox on Sunday and invited her to the annual address set for March 7 at the U.S. Capitol. Cox will sit with the first lady, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Wednesday. Cox accepted the invitation, she said. (Long, 1/24)

A federal program that provides nutritious foods for pregnant people and babies is facing a $1 billion budget shortfall — and advocates are worried that for the first time in its 50-year history, it could become a casualty of a dysfunctional congressional appropriations process. (Becker, 1/24)

Medicaid implementation, substance use disorder and service cuts are just some of the critical issues facing people who give birth in Connecticut, according to leaders, advocates and state officials who gathered at the Capitol on Tuesday to discuss barriers to maternal care. As several attendees noted, the maternal mortality rate is rising in Connecticut. Tiffany Donelson, president of the Connecticut Health Foundation, pointed out that the dangers of childbirth don’t impact everyone equally. (Golvala, 1/24)

Fifteen years ago, Dr. Esa Davis encountered a situation that millions of Black women in hospitals and birthing centers had faced before her: She was sick, and her doctors wouldn’t listen to her. Davis, a family physician who now serves the University of Maryland, Baltimore as its inaugural associate vice president for community health, had experienced a relatively uneventful pregnancy before delivering her firstborn child. But about two or three days after her cesarean section, she couldn’t walk without being short of breath and had swelling from her feet to her waist. (Roberts, 1/24)