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Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) said on Tuesday that Robert F. Kennedy Jr. told him he has come to an agreement with President-elect Trump on the issue of abortion, concluding the matter will be left to the states to decide. Speaking to reporters after his meeting with Trump’s pick to lead the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Tuberville recounted their discussion on abortion and recalled asking Kennedy about his past positions in support of abortion rights. (Fortinsky, 12/17)

The same political leaders who enacted abortion bans oversee the state committees that review maternal deaths. These committees haven’t tracked the laws’ impacts, and most haven’t finished examining cases from the year the bans went into effect. (Surana, Elba, Jaramillo, Fields and Branstetter, 12/18)

Many women are surprised by how much pain they experience during a medication abortion, a study published Tuesday in the journal BMJ Sexual & Reproductive Health found. More than 60% of abortions in the U.S. are medication abortions, meaning a person takes two drugs, often at home, to end a pregnancy. The study, which surveyed women in the U.K., found that many don’t feel prepared for the amount of pain they may feel during the procedure. (Sullivan, 12/17)

The US Food and Drug Administration has placed its most serious warning – a so-called black-box warning – on a drug used to relieve menopausal hot flashes. The FDA says women who are taking Veozah may need more frequent blood testing to check for markers of liver problems. (Goodman, 12/17)

More people are turning to IVF to have children than ever before. But new research, out last month, finds that the success of in vitro fertilization — a delicate process that works less than half the time — could be affected by air pollution. (Kutz, 12/17)