Kaiser Daily Women's Health Policy Report Highlights Issues In Various US States
California: Supporters of Proposition 73, a failed ballot measure that would have required doctors to notify parents or guardians before performing an abortion on a minor, are circulating a petition to qualify a similar initiative for the November 2006 ballot, the AP/San Jose Mercury News reports. The measure, like Proposition 73, would require unmarried girls younger than age 18 to inform a parent or legal guardian of their intention to have an abortion 48 hours before undergoing the procedure. The group has until July 3 to collect the nearly 600,000 signatures required to place the measure on the ballot (Williams, AP/San Jose Mercury News, 2/7).
South Dakota: The Senate State Affairs Committee on Wednesday voted 9-0 to approve a proposed constitutional amendment (SJR 2) that would specify that the state constitution does not recognize abortion rights, the AP/Yankton Daily Press & Dakotan reports (Brokaw, AP/Yankton Daily Press & Dakotan, 2/9). The amendment was recommended last year by the South Dakota Task Force on Abortion and sponsored by state Sen. Julie Bartling (D) and several other lawmakers (Brokaw, AP/Aberdeen American News, 2/7). The amendment would say that the state Constitution "shall not be construed to grant any right relating to abortion" (SJR2 text, 2/8). According to state Sen. Jay Duenwald (R), the constitutional amendment would neither ban nor allow abortion, but would allow the Legislature to decide if abortion rights would exist in the state. If approved by the state Legislature, the amendment would appear on the November 2006 ballot for a statewide vote (AP/Aberdeen American News, 2/7).
South Dakota: The state House Judiciary Committee on Monday voted 8-5 to reject a bill (HB 1216) that would have required Planned Parenthood of Minnesota, North Dakota and South Dakota in Sioux Falls to conduct a professional assessment of potential physical and emotional risks facing each woman seeking abortion, the AP/Aberdeen American News reports. The measure, which was sponsored by Rep. Roger Hunt (R), would allow women to sue doctors who provide abortions for negligence if they later developed problems possibly linked to the procedure and believed they had not been fully educated about the risks. The bill also would have required doctors performing abortions to have patient admitting privileges at area hospitals in case a woman were to need emergency care. Opponents of the bill said they rejected the legislation because abortion doctors would be treated in a manner different from other doctors (Kafka, AP/Aberdeen American News, 2/6).
Virginia: The state House of Delegates on Tuesday preliminarily approved a bill (HB 189) that would require abortion clinics to meet the same operating and building standards as ambulatory surgery centers, the AP/WAVY-TV reports (AP/WAVY-TV, 2/7). The bill, sponsored by Delegate Robert Marshall (R), would require clinics that provide more than 25 abortions annually to meet the standards (Kaiser Daily Women's Health Policy Report, 2/6). The state House on Tuesday adopted an amendment that would strike specified structural requirements from the bill for abortion clinics provided that patients can be removed safely from the facilities on a gurney or stretcher (AP/WAVY-TV, 2/7). Abortion clinics currently are subject to the same regulations as doctors' offices (Kaiser Daily Women's Health Policy Report, 2/6).
Virginia: The state House Health, Welfare and Institutions Committee on Tuesday voted 14-8 to approve a bill (HB 1247), sponsored by Delegate William Janis (R), that would require physicians to report to the state Department of Health any cases in which they treat a women with medical complications believed to be the result of an induced abortion, the Richmond Times-Dispatch reports. Legislators excluded from the language of the bill a provision that would require the health department to prepare an annual report based on the data gathered by doctors, the Times-Dispatch reports. According to state budget analysts, preparing the report would have cost the state $45,000 the first year and $38,000 in following years. With the provision, the bill would have had to go to the state House Appropriations Committee, where "its fate was less certain," the Times-Dispatch reports. State health department officials said the bill, with or without the language, would increase the department's operating costs (Smith, Richmond Times-Dispatch, 2/8). Regulations on Minors
South Dakota: State House members on Tuesday extended debate on a bill (HB 1194) that would prohibit public school employees from accompanying or sending students to an abortion or family planning clinic after rejecting language that would have imposed jail sentences for some teachers, the AP/Aberdeen American News reports (Kafka, AP/Aberdeen American News, 2/7). The state House Education Committee on Friday voted 11-4 to approve the bill, sponsored by state Rep. Keri Weems (R). The bill would have instituted a penalty of as much as 30 days in jail and a $200 fine for referring a student to family planning services and up to one year in jail and a $1,000 fine for distributing condoms in schools (Kaiser Daily Women's Health Policy Report, 2/6). State lawmakers on Tuesday rejected the provisions to impose jail sentences on the teachers and counselors after Rep. Joni Cutler (R) said the regulations could violate faculty members' rights to free speech. The House is expected to vote on the measure on Thursday (AP/Aberdeen American News, 2/7). Stem Cell Research
New York state: Gov. George Pataki (R) and state Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno's (R) $800 million biomedical research proposal includes plans to fund research using stem cells derived from umbilical cords, state Health Commissioner Antonia Novello said on Tuesday, the Albany Times Union reports. The proposal, which Pataki and Bruno announced last month, would provide $200 million in state funds to accompany $600 million in private money for research into cures for various diseases. The plan does not specify if human embryonic stem cell research would be eligible for funding, according to the Times Union. Under the proposal, the state would create a task force and two legislative and gubernatorial-appointed boards to review potential research and set guidelines for funding distribution. Rob Kinney, a spokesperson for Novello, said the panels would decide if embryonic stem cell research projects could be funded by the initiative. However, when asked if she would support state-funded embryonic stem cell research, Novello said, "In this stage of the game, we are only interested in cord blood" (Odato, Albany Times Union, 2/8). Other Regulations
Kansas: The state House on Wednesday voted 110-14 to approve a bill (HB 2593) that would allow state Board of Regents colleges and universities to provide lower-cost health insurance to students employed on campus but would not include coverage for abortions, the AP/Topeka Daily Captial Journal reports (AP/Topeka Daily Capital Journal, 2/9). State Rep. Dick Kelsey (R) proposed amending the measure to exclude abortion from the coverage, saying the state should not fund the procedure because it is immoral, and the state House voted 72-50 to approve to the measure on Tuesday (Rothschild, Lawrence Journal-World, 2/8). Currently, individual institutions can offer health and accident insurance at the students' expense, and graduate students can obtain coverage through a state insurance plan. The bill would allow the board to contract with insurance companies to provide the coverage with the aim of using the "combined purchasing power" of the institutions to lower costs, the AP/Wichita Eagle reports (Milburn, AP/Wichita Eagle, 2/7). The Board of Regents governs six state universities, and supervises 19 community colleges, five technical colleges, six technical schools and a municipal university (Board of Regents Web site, 2/8). Assistant House Minority Leader Jim Ward (D) said if the measure is approved, its implementation likely would be delayed by a court challenge of the abortion provision (AP/Wichita Eagle, 2/7).
South Dakota: The state House on Monday voted 34-35 to reject a bill (HB 1184) that would have allowed health workers to decline to provide health services that conflict with their moral or religious beliefs or to decline to refer patients to other providers of such services, the AP/Aberdeen American News reports (Brokaw, AP/Aberdeen American News, 2/6). The bill, sponsored by state Rep. Don Van Etten (R), would have allowed pharmacists, physicians, hospitals, clinics, nursing homes and other health care providers to decline to be involved in certain services, including providing abortions and contraception. The measure also would have protected health workers from civil litigation and from being fired, demoted or disciplined if they refused to perform services that conflicted with their beliefs (Kaiser Daily Women's Health Policy Report, 2/6). The bill was rejected after opponents argued that some patients might be denied proper care. Van Etten said he plans to ask the House to reconsider the bill (AP/Aberdeen American News, 2/6).
"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.
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