An Iowa judge on Friday temporarily blocked the state’s new “heartbeat bill” from going into effect, halting protections for unborn babies that would begin as soon as doctors can detect a heartbeat. Judge Michael Huppert said he would formally issue a temporary injunction later Friday. The American Civil Liberties Union of Iowa, the Planned Parenthood Federation of America, and the Emma Goldman Clinic sued to stop the law, which provides the earliest protections in the country for unborn babies.

A D.C. moment: With the start of June comes the suspense of Supreme Court rulings; we never know when a ruling will come down, but June is the final month of the court’s term and as usual, the justices have procrastinated until the last minute on some of the term’s biggest cases. We’re awaiting rulings on the Christian cake baker (argued in December), the travel ban, redistricting, public sector unions, sales taxes on internet retailers, and California laws regulating the speech of pregnancy centers. 

The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday ruled Arkansas can enforce a law protecting babies from medical abortion. The measure requires abortion pill prescribers to contract with a physician who has admitting privileges at a nearby hospital and can assist with complications. The Planned Parenthood affiliate in Arkansas said it couldn’t find any doctors to work with, so it would have to stop administering the abortion-inducing drugs mifepristone and misoprostol. The organization doesn’t perform surgical abortions in the state, but another facility in Little Rock does.

Pro-life advocates in Ireland watched in dismay Saturday as their country paved the way for legalized abortion through 12 weeks of pregnancy.

A leading Irish pro-life group admitted defeat Saturday in its effort to keep the country’s protections for unborn children. Two exit polls taken Friday indicate about 70 percent of voters opted to repeal the Eighth Amendment to the country’s constitution, which granted unborn babies the same legal rights as their mothers. The law effectively prevented all abortions except when the mother’s life was in danger.

Irish voters are heading to the polls Friday in a historic referendum to determine whether the country keeps some of Europe’s strongest protections for unborn children. Ireland’s Eighth Amendment, adopted in 1983, makes a mother and her unborn baby equal under the law, effectively restricting abortion except in cases where the mother’s life is at risk. If voters decide to repeal the amendment, lawmakers will consider new laws legalizing abortion.

On their first date, Patrick and Dorothy Yeung talked at a Mexican restaurant for six hours. They even discussed marriage, and found they shared a desire for “as many kids as God would give,” Patrick says.

But four years into the Yeungs’ marriage, Dorothy still hadn’t conceived, although she and her husband yearned for children.

Doctors told the St. Louis, Mo., couple that their only hope for biological children was in vitro fertilization (IVF), a process they opposed as Catholics. The Yeungs began to pursue adoption, but still wanted answers about their infertility.