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Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost is asking a Hamilton County judge deciding the legality of the state’s ban on abortion after six weeks to dismiss the case, which would let that ban stand. That’s even though voters approved an amendment guaranteeing abortion and reproductive rights in November. On Friday, Yost asked Judge Christian Jenkins to dismiss the case, but his 16-page filing didn't include specifics of what parts of the six-week ban could still be constitutional. (Kasler, 2/4)

A California federal judge has refused to shield Yelp from a lawsuit by the state of Texas accusing it of posting misleading notices about crisis pregnancy centers on its online review site. U.S. District Judge Trina Thompson in Oakland, California, ruled Thursday that federal courts cannot interfere with state actions enforcing their laws unless they are brought in bad faith. She said that required her to dismiss a preemptive lawsuit Yelp had filed against Republican Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton last September in an effort to stop him from suing the San Francisco-based company for posting notices warning users that the centers provided limited medical services. (Pierson, 2/2)

When Deanna Gomez found out she was pregnant in September 2023, it turned her world on end. She was a college senior in San Bernardino and didn’t feel ready to have a baby. She was working two jobs, doing well in her classes, and she was on track to graduate in December. She used birth control. Motherhood was not in the plan. She ended up driving more than 300 miles to three medical offices and paying hundreds of dollars in medical and travel expenses. She missed a month of classes, which put her graduation date from Cal State San Bernardino in jeopardy. She had no idea she was entitled to a free medication abortion right on campus. (Fortier and Guzman-Lopez, 2/5)

DakotaRei Frausto was 17 years old and 12 weeks pregnant when they had to travel 11 hours by car from San Antonio, Texas, to New Mexico to terminate a pregnancy after contraception failed them. The appointment was April 1, 2022, about six months after Senate Bill 8 initially took effect in Texas, banning abortions after about six weeks. “I had a lot of health issues that played into me wanting to get an abortion, but those very issues made it difficult for me to realize I was pregnant in the first place,” said Frausto, who was eight weeks along by the time they discovered they were pregnant. (Moseley-Morris, 2/5)

Yamelsie Rodriguez, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood of the St. Louis Region and Southwest Missouri, has announced she will step down from her position at the end of this month. Rodriguez has led the regional organization since 2019 and has guided its efforts as access to abortion dwindled and then ended in Missouri. (Fentem, 2/2)