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

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

Abortion

• Minnesota: There were 13,362 abortions performed in the state in 2005, a 3% drop from 2004 statistics, according to an annual report released Friday by the state Health Department, the AP/Duluth News Tribune reports. The report finds that 3,849 procedures in 2005 were covered by public health programs, compared with 3,950 in 2004. The report also finds that 12,220 of the abortions performed in the state occurred during the first three months' gestation. According to the report, 4,091 women in 2005 underwent the procedure because of economic reasons, compared with 2,647 in 2004 (Lohn, AP/Duluth News Tribune, 6/30).
  


• South Dakota: The Oglala Sioux Tribal Council on Thursday voted 9-5 to replace Tribal President Cecelia Fire Thunder for allegedly soliciting donations on behalf of the tribe for a proposed abortion clinic without the council's approval, the AP/Washington Post reports (Walker, AP/Washington Post, 6/30). Fire Thunder in March in response to the approval of the South Dakota law (HB 1215) that bans abortion except to save a woman's life said, "I will personally establish a Planned Parenthood clinic on my own land, which is within the boundaries of the Pine Ridge Reservation where the state of South Dakota has absolutely no jurisdiction." However, Fire Thunder last month said she had not intended to open a clinic that would perform the procedure but rather one that would provide family planning information and emergency and regular contraception (Kaiser Daily Women's Health Policy Report, 6/2). "The bottom line is the Lakota people were adamantly opposed to abortion on our homelands," Will Peters, the council member who filed the complaint against Fire Thunder, said, adding, "The president was involved in unauthorized political actions." Fire Thunder said the council did not properly handle the action and plans to challenge the decision. She said the decision is "not about abortion," adding that many of the council members "have personal stuff toward me." Alex White Plume has replaced Fire Thunder as tribal president, the AP/Washington Post reports (AP/Washington Post, 6/30).
  

Minors

• Texas: The AP/CNN on Sunday profiled a program in Garland, Texas, a suburb of Dallas, that uses a mobile clinic to provide prenatal and postpartum care for teenagers who are pregnant or have infants. According to the AP/CNN, the 33-foot mobile clinic, which is funded as part of the family practice residency program at Baylor Medical Center at Garland, parks near one of four Garland high schools each month so that girls can walk from class to receive medical services and information about ways to prevent future unintended pregnancies. Prior to the mobile clinic, teenagers had to seek care at a county hospital and miss a day of school, Gayle Millican, a grant facilitator in the Garland school district, said. Kathy Bennett, a social worker with Baylor Family Practice Residency Program, said the clinic tries to provide girls with prenatal care earlier in their pregnancies. According to administrators, since the program's inception in 2000 about 650 teens and 230 infants have received medical care at the clinic. There have been nine unintended pregnancies among the girls in the program, Bennett said. The teens' medical bills are covered by private insurance or Medicaid, and teens can pay for services on a sliding scale based on household income, according to Bennett (Stengle, AP/CNN, 7/2).

Stem Cell Research

• New Jersey: The state Senate on Friday voted 26-9 to put on the November ballot a referendum for the state to borrow $230 million for stem cell research projects, Gannett/Cherry Hill Courier-Post reports. The state Assembly has not acted on the measure and is not expected to do so by the Aug. 29 deadline to place referendums on the statewide ballot, according to Gannett/Courier-Post (Gannett/Cherry Hill Courier-Post, 7/1). The state Senate last year voted to approve a similar proposal, but the state Assembly did not consider the measure (AP/Long Island Newsday, 6/30).

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