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

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

Abortion

• Michigan: The state Department of Community Health recently announced that in 2005, 25,209 abortions were performed in Michigan, the lowest number of recorded abortions since the state began detailed recording of the procedure in the 1970s, the Detroit Free Press reports. According to the health department, 11.9 abortions per 1,000 women ages 15 to 44 were performed in 2005, compared with 12.8 abortions per 1,000 women in 2004. Health department spokesperson Geralyn Lasher said that the agency attributes the decline to programs aimed at reducing unintended pregnancies. In 1987 the number of abortions and the abortion rate peaked at 49,098 and 22 abortions per 1,000 women, respectively. Since 1988, when state voters approved a measure that banned Medicaid coverage for abortions among low-income women, the number of abortions performed annually in Michigan generally has declined, according to the Free Press (Bell, Detroit Free Press, 6/24).

Emergency Contraception, Birth Control

• New Jersey: The state Senate on Monday voted 31-6 to approve a bill (S 1195) that would require pharmacists to fill prescriptions for any drug, including contraceptives, the AP/Cherry Hill Courier Post reports. The bill also would require pharmacies to refer patients immediately to another pharmacy and have the prescription transferred if the drug is not in stock. The bill now goes to the state Assembly for consideration (AP/Cherry Hill Courier Post, 6/26).

Other

• New York City: Women giving birth in New York City hospitals are two-and-a-half times as likely to die during childbirth than women giving birth nationwide, according to a report from the New York state chapter of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists published in Crain's New York Business, the New York Post reports. According to the report, the city's maternal mortality rate in 2002 was 22 deaths per 100,000 births, compared with the national average of 8.9 deaths per 100,000 births the same year. The report also says that in 2004, New York state recorded 21.2 deaths per 100,000 births (Strunsky, New York Post, 6/26). According to researchers, the higher maternal mortality rates likely are because of complications associated with obesity and diabetes, which are common among recent immigrants and women who lack access to adequate prenatal care (Hutchinson, New York Daily News, 6/26). The figures were calculated from hospital surveys given as part of an effort to reduce maternal mortality rates statewide to three deaths per 100,000 births (New York Post, 6/26).

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