Out-Of-State People Seeking Abortions Bump Kansas’ 2020 Numbers
There were 9.1% more abortions in Kansas in 2020 than 2019, partly because patients from Oklahoma, Texas and elsewhere outnumbered local patients for the first time. Other news covers Florida's anti-trans law, Oklahoma's Medicaid system and more.
AP:
Patient Influx From Other States Increases Kansas Abortions
The number of abortions performed in Kansas increased by 9.1% last year as far more women traveled from Oklahoma and Texas to terminate pregnancies than in 2019 and the state reported that out-of-state patients outnumbered Kansas patients for the first time in almost 50 years. The state Department of Health and Environment says 7,542 abortions were performed in 2020, an increase of 626 from 6,916 in 2019.Advocates on both side of the issue said Tuesday that much of that increase likely occurred because Republican governors in Oklahoma and Texas sought to ban most abortions last spring, prompting women from those states to travel to Kansas for the procedure. (Hanna, 6/2)
CBS News:
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis Signs Transgender Athlete Bill Into Law On First Day Of Pride Month
On Tuesday, the first day of Pride Month, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed into law a bill that bans transgender girls and women from competing on female sports teams at the high school and college level. DeSantis appeared at Trinity Christian Academy in Jacksonville to sign the "Fairness in Women's Sports Act," which was introduced by Republican State Senator Travis Hutson in February. The law states that women and girls must play on the sport teams of the "biological sex" on their birth certificate. Therefore, a transgender girl whose birth certificate denotes her "biological sex" as male, cannot play on a girls' sports team. (O'Kane, 6/1)
Oklahoman:
Oklahoma Supreme Court Says Medicaid Managed Care Plan Invalid
The Oklahoma Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that the Oklahoma Health Care Authority does not have the authority to implement a managed care plan for the state’s Medicaid system. In a victory for state medical groups, the court said the health care authority created a new managed care program without legislative authority. “We find the actions of the OHCA are invalid under Oklahoma law,” the court said in a 6-3 decision striking down an initiative pushed hard by Gov. Kevin Stitt. (Casteel, 6/1)
NPR:
Indiana Needle Exchange That Helped Contain Historic HIV Outbreak May Close
In 2015, rural Scott County, Indiana, found itself in the national spotlight when intravenous drug use and sharing needles led to an outbreak of HIV. Mike Pence, who was Indiana's governor at the time, approved the state's first syringe exchange program in the small manufacturing community 30 minutes north of Louisville, as part of an emergency measure. "I will tell you that I do not support needle exchange as anti-drug policy," he said during a 2015 visit to the county. "But this is a public health emergency." (Legan, 6/1)
Anchorage Daily News:
Western Alaska Is Experiencing An Unprecedented Rabies Outbreak, Officials Say
State health and environment officials are warning residents of Western Alaska and the Bering Strait region to vaccinate pets and be wary of wildlife because of an unprecedented rabies outbreak. “I don’t think we’ve ever seen such a high number of cases of rabies,” said Dr. Robert Gerlach with the state Department of Environmental Conservation. The number of rabies cases varies year to year, but the Bering Strait region normally sees only four or five animals with confirmed cases each year, according to a statement from Alaska’s health and environmental conservation departments. Since October, over 35 cases have been confirmed in the area, officials said. (Williams, 6/1)
Oklahoman:
In-House Newborn Screenings Return To Oklahoma's Public Health Lab
In-house newborn screenings have returned to Oklahoma's Public Health Lab after the tests were outsourced to a lab in Pennsylvania amid the lab’s ongoing move from Oklahoma City to Stillwater, health officials announced Tuesday. The screenings, which are blood tests that look for certain hidden genetic disorders in infants, were outsourced in March after inconsistencies were found in the testing and after the lab's director learned Oklahoma’s screenings didn’t test for a rare genetic marker most other states screen for. (Branham, 6/1)
KHN:
From Racial Justice To Dirty Air, California’s New AG Plots A Progressive Health Care Agenda
California Attorney General Rob Bonta, a longtime Democratic state lawmaker, comes to his new role well known for pursuing an unabashedly progressive agenda on criminal justice issues. He has pushed for legislation to eliminate cash bail and to ban for-profit prisons and detention centers. But Bonta also has a distinctive record on health care, successfully advancing legislation to protect consumers from so-called surprise medical bills when they inadvertently get treatment from out-of-network providers and framing environmental hazards like pollution as issues of social justice. (Hart, 6/2)
