Actions Taken On Women's Health-Related Legislation In Arizona, Connecticut, New Jersey

Main Category: Women's Health / Gynecology
Also Included In: Abortion;  Sexual Health / STDs;  Pediatrics / Children's Health
Article Date: 06 Mar 2008 - 7:00 PDT

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The following highlights recent state news about women's health-related legislation.

• Arizona: On Monday, the House voted 34-25 to approve a bill (HB 2769) that would ban so-called "partial-birth" abortion in the state, the Arizona Republic reports (Crawford, Arizona Republic, 3/4). The measure mirrors the federal abortion ban upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court (Daily Women's Health Policy Report, 3/3). The bill allows exceptions only to save the life of the pregnant woman. Rep. Linda Lopez (D) criticized the bill for not including a health exception. "This is bad public policy and a decision between a doctor and a woman," Lopez said. Rep. Andy Tobin (R) said the procedures banned by the bill are "extreme." The bill now goes to the Senate for consideration (Arizona Republic, 3/4). The Senate gave preliminary approval to the companion bill (SB 1099) on Thursday (Daily Women's Health Policy Report, 3/3).
  
  
• Connecticut: The General Assembly's education committee on Friday heard "starkly different views" about a bill (HB 5591) that would require the state Department of Education to create a comprehensive sex education grant program, the Hartford Courant reports. Under the bill, the education department would provide $1 million for "medically accurate" health education in school districts that want it. The grants would only fund programs that follow state curriculum guidelines, which prohibit "discussion of abortion as an alternative to family planning," according to the Courant. Advocates supporting the bill said the comprehensive sex education they sought would include information about reproductive health, puberty, sexually transmitted infections, pregnancy, and how to prevent pregnancy through abstinence and contraception. Theresa Krankowski, director of St. Gerard's Center for Life, said comprehensive sex education was fundamentally incompatible with abstinence, which she argued should be taught instead. Rep. Jason Bartlett (D) said Krankowski is effectively suggesting that too much information can lead to bad behavior and argued that teenagers also can get the same information from the Internet. Susan Yolen, vice president for public affairs and communication at Planned Parenthood of Connecticut, said the bill would provide young people with information that could save their lives (Becker, Hartford Courant, 3/1).
  
  
• New Jersey: On Monday, the Senate voted 22-16 to approve a bill (S 786) that would allow workers who take time off to care for a new infant or ill family member to be paid while on leave for up to six weeks, the Bergen Record reports. Under the bill, employees would be paid up to two-thirds of their salary up to a maximum of $502 weekly. The benefit would be funded solely by an employee payroll deduction of no more than $33 annually (Young, Bergen Record, 3/3). Employees in businesses with 50 or more employees would be required to use the paid leave benefit in conjunction with the federal Family and Medical Leave Act, which provides up to 12 weeks of job-protected unpaid family leave annually. Employees of businesses with fewer than 50 employees would be paid while on leave but would not have job-protected leave. The New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development has estimated that about 38,000 of New Jersey's four million workers would use the benefit annually (Daily Women's Health Policy Report, 1/31). The bill now moves to an Assembly committee and is expected to reach the full Assembly for a vote by the end of the month. Senate Majority Leader Stephen Sweeney (D) said, "This is an insurance policy to make sure that when tragedy strikes, you don't have to worry about losing your job or losing your home." Sen. Kevin O'Toole (R) said the bill is sending a message that "New Jersey is antibusiness." Gov. Jon Corzine (D) has said he would sign the measure. California has a similar law that allows workers to take up to six weeks paid leave and Washington will allow workers to take five weeks paid leave as of October 2009 (Bergen Record, 3/3).

Reprinted with kind permission from http://www.nationalpartnership.org. You can view the entire Daily Women's Health Policy Report, search the archives, or sign up for email delivery here. The Daily Women's Health Policy Report is a free service of the National Partnership for Women & Families, published by The Advisory Board Company.

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