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Four years after Texas banned nearly all abortions, Lynn Callaway is among women who say they are still being denied the full range of miscarriage care by doctors fearful of being accused of performing a prohibited abortion and spending life in prison or losing their medical licenses. Last year, lawmakers passed a bill aimed at assuring doctors they wouldn’t be punished for treating miscarriages. The law went into effect last June. But months later, in October, Callaway found herself facing the same fear and uncertainty that has restricted pregnancy care in Texas since 2022. (Klibanoff, 6/22)

Nearly two dozen Oregon rural hospitals will receive $37.5 million in state and federal funds to shore up labor and delivery care ahead of Medicaid cuts going into effect next year, though state and hospital officials say the one-time funds are likely a limited solution. The program, which was greenlit by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services last month, combines $15 million in state dollars with more than $22 million in federal matching funds. The money will be distributed to the state’s 21 rural hospitals that provide maternity care, most of which are more than 50 miles from the next closest birth center. (Dawson, 6/22)

Florida is expanding its crackdown on a byproduct of kratom, known as 7-OH, which can be stronger than morphine, highly addictive and even deadly, officials said Monday. The state limited sales of 7-OH last year, in an emergency rule that outlawed the sale of 7-OH over 0.04% concentrate, but new products emerged that skirt the emergency rule. The state's attorney general James Uthmeier announced a new series of restrictions Monday. (Sheridan, 6/23)

Parents of a 2-year-old girl involved in a drowning incident on Memorial Day have sued to stop Texas Children’s Hospital from testing if she’s brain dead, testing a new strategy in Texas’ “right to life” movement aimed at giving people as much access to life-supporting services as possible. (Ma, 6/22)

The embattled director of the Michigan Department of Corrections is defending conditions inside the state prisons. Heidi Washington, who is facing calls for removal over treatment of female prisoners, on Thursday wrote a letter to US Rep. Debbie Dingell claiming that her department “has established itself as a national leader” and “prisoner grievances” are common. “We recognize that prison remains a complicated and at times challenging environment, particularly as many in the population we serve have increasingly complex needs,” Washington wrote. (James, 6/22)

The smoke over Los Angeles has ebbed over the past five days as firefighters battle flare-ups at a fire at a cold-storage facility. East of the downtown skyline, what was a thick, black plume is now a diluted gray haze. But neighbors near the blaze, in the city’s Boyle Heights area, could pay attention to little else. They struggled to breathe. They endured headaches and burning eyes, even indoors. During intense periods of smoke, residents described a dystopian scene, with streets shrouded in darkness and visibility no further than a couple of car lengths. (Mayorquin and Spoto, 6/22)

Billboards flank the freeway, encouraging you to “love thy selfie.” On television and social media, “The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives” star Jessi Draper openly discusses the work she’s had done: four breast procedures, a labiaplasty, a nostril reduction, and several other facial surgeries, one of which she is not happy with. Heather Gay, one of “The Real Housewives of Salt Lake,” estimates she’s spent $200,000 on cosmetic procedures. Everywhere you look, it seems there are fuller lips, lifted faces and madeover mommies. Yes, Utah has become a hot spot for plastic surgery. (6/22)