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A U.S. federal judge on Tuesday temporarily blocked a Mississippi law that enacted the tightest restrictions on abortion in the United States, in a ruling handed down a day after the governor signed the measure. The Mississippi law would prohibit abortion after 15 weeks of gestation, with some exceptions. It went into effect immediately after Republican Governor Phil Bryant signed it on Monday. State law previously banned abortion at 20 weeks after conception, in line with limits in 17 other states. (Dobuzinskis, 3/20)

Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant (R) signed the bill — the nation's most restrictive abortion ban — into law earlier this week. The law bans abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy, down from a 20-week restriction already on Mississippi's books. The measure took effect immediately. It featured some exceptions, including if a woman's life or a "major bodily function" is threatened or if the fetus has a health problem that would mean it likely wouldn't survive outside the womb. (Savransky, 3/20)

Idaho will become the latest conservative state to require women seeking abortions to be informed that the drug-induced procedures can be halted halfway, despite opposition from medical groups that say there is little evidence to support that claim. Gov. C.L. "Butch" Otter quietly signed the proposal into law Tuesday along with nearly 50 other measures. The law, which will go into effect July 1, is the latest move by Republican-dominant states that are testing the government's legal ability to restrict a woman's right to terminate a pregnancy. (Kruesi, 3/20)

A proposal to outlaw almost all abortions in Iowa drew a throng of residents to the Statehouse on Tuesday evening in a hearing that tipped back and forth between the two passionate sides of the argument. Legislators heard from doctors who portrayed abortion as an important health-care option and doctors who portrayed it as murder. They heard from pastors who see abortion as the taking of a sacred life and from pastors who see it as a decision to be made according to a woman’s beliefs. And they heard from women who said abortions ruined their lives and women who said abortions saved their lives. (Leys, 3/20)

Internal emails and memos reveal that political appointees at the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) went against career officials' objections by deciding to cut short grants aimed at preventing teen pregnancy. Documents released under a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request indicate that three political appointees directed the changes to the Teen Pregnancy Prevention (TPP) program: Valerie Huber, who prior to joining HHS headed a national abstinence education advocacy group; Teresa Manning, a former anti-abortion rights lobbyist who has since left HHS; and Steven Valentine, who previously worked for Rep. Chris Smith (R-N.J.), chairman of the Congressional Pro-Life Caucus.  (Hellmann, 3/20)

Rep. Dan Lipinski of Illinois, one of the most conservative Democrats in Congress, narrowly won a primary Tuesday over a progressive newcomer who argued the congressman’s views no longer reflect the Chicago-area district he has represented for seven terms. Marie Newman, who was little-known when she decided to challenge Lipinski for the seat he inherited from his father, had backing from progressive groups as well as Sen. Bernie Sanders, who won Illinois’ 3rd Congressional District by 9 points over Hillary Clinton in the 2016 Democratic primary. ... She campaigned as the “true Democrat,” blasting Lipinski for opposing abortion and voting against same-sex marriage and President Barack Obama’s signature health care overhaul. (Burnett, 3/21)