In Texas, seven more women who were denied medically necessary abortions joined a lawsuit filed by the Center for Reproductive Rights against the state of Texas. There are now 22 plaintiffs as the case heads to the Texas Supreme Court later this month. The case seeks to clarify what constitutes a “medical emergency” allowing for an abortion, and to permit doctors to make that call without fear of prosecution. One of the new plaintiffs is Danielle Mathisen, who is an OB-GYN who was forced to leave her home state just to get abortion care. Dr. Mathisen said, “Texas lawmakers know nothing about medicine and they have created a full-blown public health crisis.”

In related news, a federal judge last week blocked an Idaho law which made it a crime to help a minor cross state lines for an abortion without parental consent. The judge says the law, signed in April by Republican Governor Brad Little, violated the First Amendment. This comes as the Justice Department backed two lawsuits challenging a similar law in Alabama.