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

Abortion Regulations

• Louisiana: The state House on Tuesday voted 102-0 to approve a bill (HB 1382) that would require physicians to inform women seeking abortion about the availability of anesthesia to alleviate the pain that the procedure might cause to a fetus, New Orleans Times-Picayune reports (Anderson, New Orleans Times-Picayune, 5/17). The bill, sponsored by Rep. A.G. Crowe (R), would amend the "Woman's Right to Know Law," which dictates what information is given to women 24 hours before they undergo abortion. Under Crowe's bill, physicians would have to provide women seeking abortion with brochures saying that at 20 weeks' gestation, the "unborn child has the physical structures necessary to experience pain." The brochure also would have to inform women that anesthesia is "routinely administered to unborn children who are 20 weeks' gestational age or older who undergo prenatal surgery." Crowe said if the measure were approved, the state would not incur additional costs because the brochures with the new information only would be printed when the existing supply is depleted (Kaiser Daily Women's Health Policy Report, 5/16). The measure now moves to the state Senate for debate. If the bill is approved and signed by Gov. Kathleen Blanco (D), it will become law Aug. 15 (New Orleans Times-Picayune, 5/17).
  


• Louisiana: The state House Criminal Justice Committee on Wednesday voted to approve an amended measure (SB 33) that would ban all abortions in the state except when pregnancy threatens the life of the woman or could cause her severe health problems, the AP/New Orleans Times-Picayune reports (Simpson, AP/New Orleans Times-Picayune, 5/17). The amended version of the measure, sponsored by Sen. Ben Nevers (D), passed after panel members agreed to add language that would allow the procedure when there would be "permanent impairment of the function of a life-sustaining organ or organs or to prevent the substantial risk of a pregnant woman." The measure would punish doctors who perform abortions with one to 10 years in prison and fines of $10,000 to $100,000, but it would not punish women who undergo the procedure (Shuler, Baton Rouge Advocate, 5/18). The measure now goes to the full House for consideration. Another abortion-related measure, sponsored by Rep. Tim Burns (R), which has not come to a vote, includes exceptions for rape and incest (AP/New Orleans Times-Picayune, 5/17).

Other Regulations

• Texas: State Department of Health Services officials have said they are redistributing nearly $5.2 million in family planning funding to Planned Parenthood Federation of America and other health care providers in Texas that lost the money under a law passed last year that gave priority to many first-time providers, the AP/Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports. The law, sponsored by state Sen. Robert Deuell (R), directed nearly $20 million of family planning funding over a two-year period to Federally Qualified Health Centers, which provide comprehensive care to uninsured patients. According to the AP/Star-Telegram, many of those centers included family planning in their services, but many referred such services to traditional family planning providers. About $1.4 million of the funding comes from new contractors, who could not spend the money in the time required under law, the AP/Star-Telegram reports. Claudia Stravato, CEO of Planned Parenthood of Amarillo and the Texas Panhandle, said that it would be difficult to see enough patients to spend the money in the three months before the state's next fiscal year begins (AP/Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 5/17).
  


• Utah: The state Department of Health on Tuesday issued a fish-consumption advisory after elevated levels of chemical pollutants known as polychlorinated biphenyls, or PCBs, were found in carp collected from Utah Lake, the Salt Lake City Deseret Morning News reports. PCBs are chemicals that are used as coolants and lubricants in electrical equipment, according to John Whitehead, a hydrologist in the state Department of Environmental Quality. PCB levels detected in the carp were below the Environmental Protection Agency screening level for "noncancer" effects. However, the health department is recommending that children, pregnant and nursing women or women who might become pregnant not consume the carp, and adults should eat no more than eight ounces of the fish monthly, the Morning News reports. The Utah Department of Natural Resources will collect carp and other fish from the lake throughout the summer and analyze them for PCB levels (Page, Salt Lake City Deseret Morning News, 5/17).