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An Ohio judge permanently struck down the state's ban on abortion after about six weeks on Thursday and criticized its Republican attorney general for attempting to circumvent the will of Ohioans who voted to enshrine abortion protections in the state constitution. Judge Christian Jenkins of the Hamilton County Court of Common Pleas in Cincinnati said the Republican-backed 2019 state law would interfere with women's ability to receive abortions and discourage doctors from performing them, in violation of a constitutional amendment approved by voters last year. (Wiessner, 10/25)

States around the country have seen an onrush of abortion restrictions since the U.S. Supreme Court ended federal abortion protections in June 2022. But in Oregon, the laws have only gotten stronger. Oregon’s broad abortion protections can feel so entrenched that even the state’s most staunch anti-abortion groups concede outlawing the practice is impossible. (Dake, 10/24)

Hailey Jones will never forget the first baby she delivered: Her neighbor and best friend’s baby girl entered the world at a home on the banks of the Swannanoa River in Buncombe County on Thursday, Sept. 26, at 9:16 a.m. While a home birth was always planned, Mother Nature inflicted more challenging circumstances than they’d envisioned. (Crumpler, 10/25)

Vice President Kamala Harris will give a speech on reproductive freedom in Texas on Friday, according to a senior Harris campaign official. In the closing days of the election, Harris is leaning into the issue of abortion rights as part of her broader argument against her Republican rival, placing the blame on former President Donald Trump for abortion bans in several states and amplifying stories of the people impacted by those restrictions. And Texas was chosen as the location for the rally, campaign officials said, because it’s the epicenter of abortion bans. (Alvarez and Iyer, 10/25)

Â鶹ŮÓÅ Health News' 'What the Health?' Podcast: Less Than Two Weeks To Go

With Election Day rapidly approaching, abortion is gaining traction as a voting issue, according to public opinion polls. Meanwhile, states with abortion bans are reviving the lawsuit — dismissed by the Supreme Court on a technicality this year — that could roll back the availability of the abortion pill mifepristone. Sarah Karlin-Smith of the Pink Sheet, Rachel Cohrs Zhang of Stat, and Victoria Knight of Axios join Â鶹ŮÓÅ Health News’ Julie Rovner to discuss these stories and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews Tricia Neuman, senior vice president of Â鶹ŮÓÅ and executive director of its Program on Medicare Policy, about Medicare open enrollment and the changes to the federal program for 2025. (10/24)