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The number of abortions performed in Georgia increased by nearly 1,100 — or almost 4% — last year, according to new numbers from the state Department of Public Health. The latest figures, for 2018, were released about three months after Gov. Brian Kemp signed one of the country’s strictest abortion laws. (Prabhu, 8/19)

Attorneys representing the state told a federal judge that Georgia’s new anti-abortion law is “constitutional and justified” and asked him to dismiss a lawsuit challenging the measure. Filed in federal court Monday, attorneys representing the state said with House Bill 481 — which outlaws most abortions once a doctor can detect fetal cardiac activity — Georgia has an interest in “protecting the life of the unborn; promoting respect for life at all stages of pregnancy; protecting maternal health and safety; and safeguarding the ethics and integrity of the medical profession.” (Prabhu, 8/19)

A Maricopa County jury awarded a former Planned Parenthood Arizona employee $3 million after she claimed she was wrongfully terminated when she alerted supervisors to unsafe medical practices. Mayra Rodriguez in her lawsuit alleged she was fired after being falsely accused of having narcotics inside her desk. (Castle, 8/19)

Last year, Iowa lawmakers passed what was then considered the nation’s most restrictive abortion law. The “fetal heartbeat” law would have banned most abortions as early as six weeks of pregnancy. But Iowa courts stepped in, blocking that law and ensuring future attempts to restrict abortion rights would fail in the state. Now, abortion opponents in Iowa are trying to rally support for what they see as their only path to restricting or banning abortion. (Sostaric, 8/19)

Austin City Council members announced Monday that they are working on a proposal to make abortion more accessible to people who are seeking it by funding services such as transportation, emotional support and childcare. (Hall, 8/19)

A Chicago man is accused of promising to “slaughter and murder” doctors, patients and visitors at an abortion clinic, a threat that the authorities said Monday he issued on iFunny.co, an online forum where he followed an Ohio man charged last week over similar threats, court records show. The man in Chicago, Farhan Sheikh, 19, has been charged with transmitting a threat in interstate commerce, a crime punishable by up to five years in prison, the United States Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Illinois said on Monday in a news release. (Chokshi, 8/19)