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

• California: The state Senate Judiciary Committee has voted 4-0 to approve a bill (AB 2251) that would outlaw the online posting, sale, trade or solicitation of addresses, telephone numbers and pictures of reproductive clinic physicians and patients, LifeNews.com reports. The state House in May approved the measure, by Assembly member Noreen Evans (D) (Ertelt, LifeNews.com, 7/6). The California Medical Association, the California Nurses Association, Kaiser Permanente, the National Organization for Women of California, NARAL Pro-Choice America and Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California have endorsed the bill, the St. Helena Star reports. The legislation now goes to the full state Senate for consideration (St. Helena Star, 7/6).
  


• Maryland: Gov. Robert Ehrlich (R) on Thursday announced his four appointments to the 15-member commission that will review stem cell research proposals in the state, the AP/WTOP reports (Dominguez, AP/WTOP, 7/6). Ehrlich in April signed into law a bill (SB 144) that will offer as much as $15 million in grants in 2007 to university-based and private researchers working with stem cells. The law establishes procedures for reviewing stem cell research projects, which could involve either embryonic or adult stem cells. The commission and a panel of scientists will review the research proposals and determine how to distribute the funding (Kaiser Daily Women's Health Policy Report, 4/7). Ehrlich appointed Joseph Capizzi, an ethics professor at Catholic University of America, and Rabbi Joel Zaiman, former leader of the Chizuk Amuno Congregation in Baltimore, to the commission as his biomedical ethics and religion experts. Capizzi after the announcement said that "[w]ithout question" he is opposed to "destroying embryos for the sake of research." Zaiman did not attend the conference, but his synagogue is a member of the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism, which supports embryonic stem cell research, the Baltimore Sun reports. Ehrlich also appointed Jack Chow, former assistant director-general of the World Health Organization, and Bowen Weisheit, a Baltimore real estate attorney of the Maryland Chapter of the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation (Emery, Baltimore Sun, 7/7). Four of the members of the commission were appointed by the state Senate president and the state House speaker, and the other seven were appointed by Johns Hopkins University, the University System of Maryland and the state attorney general (AP/WTOP, 7/6).
  


• Oklahoma: The Oklahoman on Monday examined the debate concerning a state law that requires parental consent for minors seeking abortion and allocates funds to organizations that provide pregnant women with antiabortion counseling and support services (Mock, Oklahoman, 7/3). The law, which was signed by Gov. Brad Henry (D) in May, also makes it a separate offense to kill a fetus during a crime against a pregnant woman. In addition, the law requires physicians to inform women seeking abortion at 20 weeks' gestation or later that the fetus might feel pain during the operation and that anesthesia could be administered. Under the measure, the woman also has the option of seeing a sonogram of her fetus prior to undergoing an abortion (Kaiser Daily Women's Health Policy Report, 5/25). State Rep. Kevin Calvey (R) said, "Nobody should have the right to choose to kill an innocent child," adding, "This is not taking rights away from any woman, but is giving women more rights by regulating an industry that is not exactly known for being honest to women." Nancy Keenan, president of NARAL Pro-Choice America, said that what is most disturbing about the bill "is that Oklahomans are folks who really do value the issue of freedom and privacy and personal responsibility," and "pieces of legislation like this fly in the face of those values" (Oklahoman, 7/3).