Samantha Gobba/WORLD News Service

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (BP) -- The California Board of Registered Nursing has given a green light -- for the third time -- to a class teaching nurses how to reverse drug-induced abortions. The board's decision, coming just months after it decided to cut the class, surprised leaders of Heartbeat International, the Ohio-based nonprofit organization that offers the continuing education credit. See related story. "We thought it would be more paperwork involved and more of a protracted process," Heartbeat spokesman Jay Hobbs said. "In the end, really what we saw was them ... conceding that this is a science-based approach to medicine, that there's just no good grounds to stop nurses from learning about that."

COLUMBUS, Ohio (BP) -- Pro-life advocates are applauding the Ohio legislature's passage of a bill to ban abortions of babies diagnosed with Down syndrome. They expect a signature from Gov. John Kasich within the next week or so. Last month, the state House passed the bill 64-31, and the Senate passed it 20-12 last week. The legislation prohibits abortions "because an unborn child has or may have Down syndrome." Abortionists who violate the law would face a fourth-degree felony charge, but their patients would not face prosecution.

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (BP) -- Opponents of an Illinois law that would allow state funding of abortion on demand for state employees and Medicaid recipients have filed suit. Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner signed the law, known as HB 40, earlier this year, and the Thomas More Society filed suit last week on behalf of 10 pro-life organizations, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Springfield in Illinois, and eight state legislators filing as taxpayers. The suit, a request to "restrain and enjoin" a misuse of tax dollars, points out Illinois cannot afford the abortions it has promised to cover. Pro-life experts said they were watching the lawsuit closely because the outcome could have national implications.

AUSTIN, Texas (BP) -- Should abortionists be allowed to end the life of an unborn baby by pulling it apart, or should they remove it piecemeal only after its heart has stopped beating? The answer, at least in Texas, depends on the outcome of a five-day trial concluded Nov. 8 over a new state law banning dismemberment abortions. The law, passed in June, requires abortionists to use other methods besides dismemberment -- such as clipping the umbilical cord or injecting digoxin or potassium chloride to stop the baby's heart -- before removing it from its mother's womb.

LOS ANGELIS, Calif. (BP) -- Pro-life pregnancy care centers in Los Angeles will not be forced to promote abortion after a state trial judge last week halted enforcement of California's Reproductive Freedom, Accountability, Comprehensive Care, and Transparency (FACT) Act. Riverside County Superior Court Judge Gloria Trask issued a permanent injunction against the 2015 law that required pregnancy care centers to post signs or distribute literature telling women the state offers free or low-cost contraception and abortions. The law also required pro-life centers to give women a local abortion provider's phone number.

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (BP) -- A woman's lawsuit against a New Mexico abortion center will proceed, thanks to a New Mexico judge's refusal to dismiss her case. Jessica Duran filed suit last year against Southwestern Women's Options (SWO) for not telling her about its relationship with the University of New Mexico (UNM) and the possibility that it sent her dead baby there for research. The abortion center and abortion doctor Curtis Boyd filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit, but New Mexico District Judge Clay Campbell ruled this month that all ...

HAWAII (BP) -- Women should be able to get abortion-inducing drugs at their local pharmacies in addition to abortion facilities, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) argues in a new lawsuit. The group sued on behalf of a Hawaii abortionist and three medical entities against federal regulations of the drug RU-486, also known as mifepristone and the brand name Mifeprex. The drug works with the drug misoprostol to cut off nutrients to babies during early pregnancy and send the mother into labor.

ASHEVILLE, N.C. (BP) -- The American College of Physicians argues medicine's goal is not to control the manner and timing of death. Amid increasing attempts to legalize euthanasia at the state level, the nation's second-largest network of physicians officially spoke out against it last week. The American College of Physicians (ACP) wrote in a position statement published Sept. 19 in the Annals of Internal Medicine that the organization of 152,000 medical professionals stands against the legalization of physician-assisted suicide, "the practice of which raises ethical, clinical, and other concerns."

ASHEVILLE, N.C. (BP) -- Nurses don't need to learn about a procedure used to counteract the effects of an abortion-inducing drug, according to the California Board of Registered Nursing. Just over a month after approving an "abortion pill reversal" class offered by the pro-life nonprofit organization Heartbeat International, the board issued a demand letter claiming the class isn't "relevant to the practice of nursing" and calling for the group to "immediately cease and desist" offering the class.

WAIPO, Hawaii (BP) -- Pro-life pregnancy resource centers in Hawaii have filed suit against a new law requiring them to point women toward abortion access. The law, signed by Gov. David Ige on July 11, requires pregnancy resource centers to post signs telling women about the state's "family planning services."