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Last week, in rejecting Kate Cox’s bid to terminate her nonviable pregnancy, the Texas Supreme Court called on the Texas Medical Board to offer doctors more guidance on how to interpret the state’s abortion laws. “While the judiciary cannot compel executive branch entities to do their part, it is obvious that the legal process works more smoothly when they do,” the justices wrote. (Klibanoff, 12/21)

Kate Cox petitioned to be allowed to have an abortion in Texas to “protect her life, health, and future fertility,” after receiving news that her baby was unlikely to survive, according to her court filing. A popular Instagram post misrepresented Cox’s specific case and also made misleading claims about trisomy 18, the condition affecting her pregnancy. (Yandell, 12/20)

A Wisconsin district attorney has appealed a court declaration that a state law from 1849 does not ban consensual abortions, bringing the legal fight over the law one step closer to the state’s highest court. Sheboygan County District Attorney Joel Urmanski had promised to challenge Dane County Circuit Court Judge Diane Schlipper’s Dec. 5 decision shortly after it was handed down. Matthew Thome, Urmanski’s attorney with the Attolles firm in Milwaukee, filed a notice of appeal with the circuit court on Tuesday, and it was docketed in the Wisconsin Court of Appeals Wednesday morning. (Kelly, 12/20)

Wisconsin’s top Republican wants to let voters decide whether to shrink the window of time in which women can get abortions. Current state law bans abortions after the 20th week of pregnancy, but Republican Assembly Speaker Robin Vos said Wednesday that he hopes to put a proposal on some future ballot that would lower the limit to somewhere between the 12th and 15th week. (Venhuizen, 12/21)

Physicians and the formerly sole abortion provider in North Dakota are asking a state district court judge to temporarily block a part of the state's revised abortion laws so doctors can perform the procedure to save a patient's life or health. (12/20)

A coalition of abortion rights groups in Florida says it is close to collecting enough signatures to put a constitutional amendment on the ballot next year that would protect abortion. By the end of the month, Floridians Protecting Freedom said it will have submitted 1.4 million signatures to state officials, more than enough to qualify ahead of the Feb. 1 deadline to get signatures submitted and verified. (Weixel, 12/20)

Voters in about a dozen states in 2024 could decide the fate of abortion rights with constitutional amendments on the ballot in a pivotal election year — including in several battlegrounds that will be key to deciding the presidential race and which party controls Congress. (Wang and Ann Caldwell, 12/20)

An Ohio prosecutor says it is not within his power to drop a criminal charge against a woman who miscarried in the restroom at her home, regardless of the pressure being brought to bear by the national attention on her case. Trumbull County Prosecutor Dennis Watkins said in a release issued late Tuesday that he is obligated to present the felony abuse-of-corpse charge against Brittany Watts, 33, of Warren, to a grand jury.“ (Carr Smyth, 12/20)

Sales of emergency contraception in the United States may spike by around 10% following New Year’s celebrations, according to a new study that found the trend has occurred over the past several years. (Rogers, 12/20)