Planned Parenthood of Illinois and Wisconsin are partnering to improve abortion access for Wisconsinites.
Abortion in Wisconsin was functionally banned after the Supreme Court struck down Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 case guaranteeing access to abortions.
Jennifer Welch, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood of Illinois, said the new partnership will increase services at the state's Waukegan clinic, just across the Wisconsin-Illinois border, south of Kenosha.
"Abortion providers from Wisconsin now travel to Illinois several days a week to expand access to care at our Waukegan health center," Welch explained. "We opened the Waukegan health center in 2020 in anticipation of this moment."
The legality of Wisconsin's 1849 abortion ban is currently a matter of dispute, and the state's Democratic Attorney General has filed a lawsuit to strike down the pre-Civil War measure. Even if its enforceability is questionable, the threat of legal action pushed Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin to discontinue providing abortion care at its clinics.
Tanya Atkinson, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin, said the organization will continue to offer non-abortion-related reproductive health care. She added support is available for anyone who needs help getting to the Waukegan clinic.
"We have also added patient navigators who can work with patients one-on-one and offer additional travel and financial support," Atkinson outlined. "We really want to remove those barriers for people, as much as we're able."
According to the Illinois Department of Public Health, in 2020, Illinois clinics performed roughly 530 abortions for Wisconsin patients, out of the nearly 9,700 total abortions performed for out-of-state residents.
Kristen Schultz, chief strategy and operations officer for Planned Parenthood of Illinois, said demand has exploded since Roe's fall.
"Patients from Wisconsin traveling to our health centers across the state in Illinois for abortion has increased 10 times versus the pre-June average," Schultz reported. "We expect to see this need continue to expand."
Before the Supreme Court's ruling, the number of out-of-state abortions Illinois clinics provided had steadily grown over the years. In 1995, the state performed about 3,600 abortions for out-of-state patients, roughly 63% below the number provided in 2020.
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A new bill before Arkansas lawmakers is designed to improve maternal care for low-income families.
If passed the Healthy Moms, Healthy Babies Act would invest more than $45 million annually into programs for mothers and babies statewide.
Arkansas Surgeon General Dr. Kay Chandler said the legislation would make prenatal care available to everyone.
"As soon as somebody knows they're pregnant, we want them to go to the doctor, make an appointment right away," said Chandler. "If they have a doctor - go to the doctor, OB-GYN, family doctor, wherever you go for prenatal care. But if you don't, you can go to the health department, your local health unit, and get free prenatal care and they can help you get established."
Proposals in the legislation were recommended by members of the Strategic Committee on Maternal Health that was formed by Gov. Sarah Huckabee-Sanders.
Arkansas has one of the highest maternal mortality rates in the nation and the third highest infant mortality rate.
Other parts of the legislation include paying for up to 14 prenatal and post-natal care visits and expanding access to telemedicine.
Chandler said both doctors and patients would benefit from the changes.
"I hear doctors saying, 'We're having a hard time. We're struggling to be able to take care of women with the current way that the reimbursement in,'" said Chandler. "So, this reform -- the changes in the Medicaid payments, the increase, the unbundling, presumptive eligibility, even covering ultrasounds and blood sugar monitoring -- these are new and innovative things."
Medicaid covers about half of all births in Arkansas. Huckabee-Sanders has said she's confident the state will be able to receive federal funds to help support the changes.
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Next week, Kentucky lawmakers are expected to consider a bill that would lift legal red tape that backers say makes it difficult to open up freestanding birth centers.
The Commonwealth is among 10 states with no independent nurse midwife-run facilities that provide prenatal and birth services and postpartum care. So, many people travel to Indiana or Tennessee to give birth, said Trimble County resident Paige Thompson, who went out of state to give birth in 2021. She said her friends have made similar trips, but she worries about those in other rural counties who have no options for a natural birth in a home-like environment.
"They offer the freedom to move around during labor," she said. "They offer the option to eat and drink whenever you're hungry or thirsty. And there's also the option to birth in the water."
Senate Bill 17 would exempt freestanding birth centers from the state's certificate-of-need requirements, rules that regulate health-care facilities. The Kentucky Hospital Association opposes freestanding birth centers, arguing that hospitals are better equipped to handle unpredictable medical complications.
The bill's sponsor, state Sen. Shelley Funke Frommeyer, R-Alexandria, said people should have access to the prenatal and delivery care they feel is best for them, noting there are around 800 home births in Kentucky each year.
"I want to recognize that we are not trying to do anything so complicated, other than remove barriers to wellness," she said, "and we believe that this is a very important barrier to remove."
Thompson said more than one in three Kentuckians give birth by cesarean-section, a rate among the highest in the nation.
"I think that people are waking up to the truth that midwives and midwifery care are safer, and produce better outcomes for low-risk pregnancy, in women who want a natural vaginal delivery," she said.
Data show access to birth centers is linked to fewer medical interventions and lower cesarean rates than in hospitals, and can reduce racial disparities, including fewer low birthweight babies for Black women.
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Gov. Gretchen Whitmer recently signed landmark legislation to expand access to essential OB/GYN services across Michigan.
Between 2018 and 2022, about 19 mothers per 100,000 live births in Michigan died from pregnancy-related issues, mostly in marginalized communities. The new legislation aims to expand maternal and prenatal care.
Rep. Julie Rogers, D-Kalamazoo, a former health policy chair, sponsored several bills in the package, including one to reduce government red tape for breast milk donors.
"That required HIV testing for breast milk donors every 90 days, and to contrast that with the rest of the United States, we're the only state that requires that," Rogers pointed out. "Forty-nine other states do a one-and-done test at the onset of donations."
Data from 2022 showed white mothers having the highest number of maternal transfusions, followed by Black mothers.
A new report from the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists revealed a startling statistic: More than 60% of pregnancy-related deaths could have been prevented with improved quality and safety in the maternal care system.
Rogers noted the new law mandates insurance companies to provide support for people without health coverage or access to care.
"Often times people that are not able to access primary care or obstetrics care," Rogers observed. "This would require insurance coverage for blood pressure monitors, so mothers can check their blood pressure at home."
Rogers stressed the legislation expands access to postpartum mental health screenings. She added most bills in the package received strong bipartisan support in the Legislature.
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