Kaiser Daily Women's Health Policy Report Highlights Women's Health Issues In Various US States

Main Category: Women's Health / Gynecology
Article Date: 19 Jan 2006 - 0:00 PDT

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The following highlights recent news of state actions on women's health issues.

• Iowa: The Iowa Department of Human Services has been granted approval to launch a five-year Medicaid pilot project intended to reduce the number of unplanned pregnancies in the state by increasing the number of low-income women receiving family planning services, the AP/Omaha World-Herald reports. Beginning Feb. 1, Iowa's 60,000 low-income girls and women ages 12 to 44 with annual incomes up to 200% of the federal poverty level will be eligible through the program to visit a health clinic and apply for annual gynecological exams, birth control pills and other family planning services at no cost. The program will not provide funding for abortion services. According to HHS, the program could reduce federal Medicaid spending by about $11.3 million over the next five years and by about half that amount in Iowa. CMS provided 90% of the funding for the program and the remaining 10% was provided by the state. According to Iowa records, 33%, or 12,789, of the 38,139 births in Iowa in 2003 were covered by Medicaid, up from 27% in 2001 (AP/Omaha World-Herald, 1/17).
  


• Maryland: Maryland likely will maintain legal access to abortion if Roe v. Wade -- the 1973 Supreme Court ruling that effectively barred state abortion bans -- is overturned, the Baltimore Sun reports. John Nugent, director of Planned Parenthood of Maryland, said, "Maryland has been one of the leaders in protecting reproductive rights" and has reinforced the Roe decision on multiple occasions. In 1991, a state law was passed, stating that the right to abortion would remain legal in Maryland. When abortion-rights opponents "forced [the law] to a referendum," almost two-thirds of voters chose to uphold it, the Sun reports. According to the Sun, many abortion-rights opponents agree with Nugent's assessment of the state's access to reproductive rights. Maryland Right to Life President Angela Martin said, "There are very few restrictions to abortion in Maryland" (Kohn, Baltimore Sun, 1/15).
  


• Missouri: The AP/Kansas City Star on Friday profiled Matt Hartwig, president of the Missouri Pharmacy Association, who opposes a proposed bill that would allow pharmacists to refuse to fill prescriptions for emergency contraception, as well as any bill mandating that they do so (Blank, AP/Kansas City Star, 1/13). Missouri Gov. Matt Blunt (R) last week distributed his top legislative goals for the year, including legislation that would allow pharmacists to refuse prescriptions for EC, which can prevent pregnancy if taken within 72 hours of unprotected sexual intercourse (Mannies, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 1/12). Hartwig said he does not want state government telling pharmacists whether they should fill certain prescriptions, adding, "We already have that right, we don't need legislation for that." Hartwig said communication between physicians and pharmacies would provide a solution to the debate over filling EC prescriptions. "If a physician wants something like that dispensed, they should find someone that will dispense it," he added (AP/Kansas City Star, 1/13).
  


• Nebraska: The Nebraska Legislature on Friday debated a bill (LB 57) that would allow criminal charges to be brought against a person for injuring an "unborn child," defined as "an individual member of the species Homo sapiens at any stage of development in utero," the Associated Press reports. The bill would make intentionally causing serious harm to a fetus a felony punishable by 20 years in prison and a $20,000 fine. The bill also would create a charge of assault if a fetus were injured during the commission of another crime. State Sen. Mike Foley, who introduced the bill earlier this month, said that life begins at conception and, reading from an embryology textbook, said that "birth is merely a dramatic event during development resulting in a change of environment." However, state Sen. Ernie Chambers said, "A zygote does not have a body. Where there is no body, there cannot be serious bodily injury." Chambers added that Foley is "dealing with a religious dogma and not reality" (O'Hanlon, Associated Press, 1/13). Lawmakers did not yet vote whether to advance the measure from the first round of debates (WOWT.com, 1/13).
  


• North Dakota: The AP/Grand Forks Herald on Sunday examined the growing trend of rural North Dakota hospitals that no longer deliver infants (AP/Grand Forks Herald, 1/15). The trend is "forcing women to commute to the state's larger cities to give birth," USA Today reports (USA Today, 1/16). Unity Medical Center, a rural hospital in Grafton, North Dakota, stopped delivering infants in November 2005. Hospital officials said there were fewer births in the area because of a declining population and it became increasingly difficult to afford medical staff and malpractice insurance. The hospital also said a shortage of surgeons and obstetrical nurses contributed to the decision to stop delivering infants except in emergencies. Only 13 of the 38 rural hospitals in the state routinely deliver infants, though all can perform deliveries in emergency situations (AP/Grand Forks Herald, 1/15).
  


• New York state: Lawmakers and health advocates in New York are continuing to push for new legislation that would allow women in the state access to emergency contraception -- which can prevent pregnancy if taken within 72 hours of unprotected sexual intercourse -- without a doctor's prescription, after Gov. George Pataki (R) last year vetoed a similar bill, the Rochester Democrat & Chronicle reports (Matthews, Rochester Democrat & Chronicle, 1/17). Pataki in August 2005 vetoed a bill (SB 3661) -- which the state Assembly and the state Senate approved earlier in the year -- that would have allowed nonprescription sales of EC to patients of any age without parental consent. In his veto message, Pataki said his primary concerns about the bill were the lack of an age restriction and the lack of a limit on the number of EC purchases (Kaiser Daily Women's Health Policy Report, 8/5/05). Pataki added that he has been a "consistent supporter of a woman's right to choose" and would work with sponsors and proponents of the legislation to create a revised bill, the Democrat & Chronicle reports. State Assembly member Amy Paulin (D), who sponsored the bill last year, said she plans to introduce a revised bill soon (Rochester Democrat & Chronicle, 1/17).
  


• Wisconsin: The AP/Duluth News Tribune on Sunday examined Wisconsin's efforts to meet the needs of the growing number of female inmates in the state. The state will focus on the health concerns of its almost 1,300 female inmates, who need pap smears, mammograms and sometimes prenatal, obstetrical and postpartum care. The incidence of HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases also is higher among female prisoners than among the general female population, according to AP/Duluth News Tribune.

"Reprinted with permission from http://www.kaisernetwork.org. You can view the entire Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, search the archives, or sign up for email delivery at http://www.kaisernetwork.org/dailyreports/healthpolicy. The Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report is published for kaisernetwork.org, a free service of The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation . © 2005 Advisory Board Company and Kaiser Family Foundation. All rights reserved.