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A federal judge on Monday granted the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, as well as employers in two Southern states, temporary relief from complying with a federal rule that would have required them to provide workers with time off and other workplace accommodations for abortions. Judge David Joseph granted the preliminary injunction in two consolidated lawsuits, one brought by the attorneys general of Louisiana and Mississippi, and the other brought by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, Catholic University and two Catholic dioceses. (Olson and Savage, 6/17)

After a Missouri judge rejected an effort to strike down the state’s abortion ban on religious freedom grounds, the possibility of overturning the ban could hinge on a statewide vote in November. St. Louis Circuit Court Judge Jason Sengheiser on Friday ruled against a lawsuit brought by more than a dozen progressive faith leaders who argued that state lawmakers imposed their religious beliefs on Missourians when they passed the ban. (Bayless, 6/17)

An anti-abortion group in South Dakota has sued to block an abortion rights measure from the November ballot. In its complaint filed Thursday, Life Defense Fund alleged various wrongdoing by the measure’s supporters, as well as invalid signatures and fraud. The group seeks to disqualify or invalidate the initiative. (Dura, 6/17)

Women are still being charged for contraception even though federal law dictates it should be free. The chair of the Senate health committee wants a government watchdog to investigate why. Under the Affordable Care Act, health plans are required to provide birth control to patients as a preventive service. Repeated probes have found that plans flout the law and patients are asked to pay, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) said in a letter being sent Monday to the Government Accountability Office and shared with The Washington Post. (Diamond, 6/17)

A bill to prevent stillbirths is headed to President Biden's desk after passing the U.S. Senate. If signed into law, The Maternal and Child Health Stillbirth Prevention Act would allocate millions of federal dollars to prevent stillbirths, defined by the Centers for Disease Control as the loss of a baby after 20 weeks of pregnancy. Every year in the United States, more than 20,000 pregnancies end in a stillbirth, and experts say a quarter of those could be prevented. (Cobb and Crann, 6/17)

Some studies have raised concerns about a potential link between the widely used type 2 diabetes drug metformin and an increased risk of conceiving a baby with birth defects. But new research now suggests that the use of the medication among men planning to conceive or women in early pregnancy does not appear to be linked with an increased risk of major birth defects for their children. (Howard, 6/17)

Early results from North Carolina and New York show that genome sequencing is catching conditions not found through traditional newborn screening. (Johnson, 6/17)