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Tennessee lawmakers said Monday they are considering whether to seek one of the nation’s strictest abortion bans even as such laws continue to be struck down in court. At issue is a proposal to prohibit abortion once a pregnancy is detected. While a similar bill stalled in the Republican-controlled Statehouse earlier this year, backers are renewing efforts now to collect enough support ahead of the 2020 legislative session. (Kruesi, 8/12)

Tennessee’s state lawmakers this week will discuss a bill that essentially bans abortion as soon as a woman knows she’s pregnant — and that at least one Republican legislator hopes could escalate into a Supreme Court challenge. The legislation, Senate Bill 1236, and its counterpart in the Tennessee House, H.B. 77, have been stalled during this session, but supporters hope to vote on its passage in January. States such as Alabama and Georgia have instituted “heartbeat” laws, named because they restrict abortion after a fetal heartbeat is detected. This can occur as early as six weeks into a pregnancy, before a woman may know she is pregnant. Other states, such as Ohio and Mississippi, have enacted such measures only to have them blocked or challenged in court. (Epstein, 8/12)

Gov. Chris Sununu signed a bill in late July that will increase scrutiny of health care mergers, such as the proposed combination of the parent organizations of Lebanon’s Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center and Manchester’s Catholic Medical Center. Under the new law, House Bill 552, the director of the New Hampshire Charitable Trusts Unit has specific authority to ask merging health care organizations how the transaction will affect the community’s “access to quality and affordable physical and mental health care services.” (Doyle-Burr, 8/12)

Governor Sununu Monday signed a bill into law that could pave the way for an expansion of telemedicine in New Hampshire. Telemedicine, the practice of connecting patients and doctors through video conferencing, is a booming trend in New Hampshire. (Moon, 8/12)