15-Week Abortion Ban Advanced In Arizona

AP: Arizona Republicans Advance 15-Week Abortion Ban Measure 
Arizona Republicans are moving swiftly to outlaw abortion after 15 weeks of pregnancy ahead of a highly anticipated U.S. Supreme Court decision that could bring seismic changes to abortion availability in the United States. Arizona already has some of the nation’s most restrictive abortion laws, including one that would automatically outlaw it if the high court fully overturns Roe v. Wade, the nearly five-decade-old ruling that enshrined a nationwide right to abortion. (Cooper, 2/3)

New Hampshire Public Radio: N.H. Senate Rejects Limitation On 24-Week Abortion Ban 
The New Hampshire Senate voted along party lines Thursday to modify the state’s new ultrasound requirement for abortions. But Senate Republicans also rejected Democratic efforts to add exemptions to the state’s 24-week abortion ban and to create a legal right to the procedure in state statute. The contours of this debate were familiar: Republicans defended the new 24-week ban, adopted as part of last year’s state budget, as reasonable and reflective of the public’s will. (Rogers, 2/3)

AP: Gov. Noem's Abortion Ban Stifled By Republican Lawmakers
A Republican-controlled South Dakota House committee declined Wednesday to consider a proposal from Gov. Kristi Noem aimed at banning nearly all abortions, stifling a top item on the governor’s agenda. The Republican governor loudly trumpeted her proposal this year, which would have mimicked the private enforcement of a Texas law and prohibited abortions once medical professionals can detect fetal cardiac activity. (Groves, 2/3)

In news about health and race —

USA Today: California Could Pay Black Americans Reparations After 2023
Supporters of a federal effort to study reparations for Black Americans are closely watching an ongoing debate in California over how to address the wrongs of history and dismantle racist structures. California is the first state in the nation to seriously consider some form of reparations for Black Americans. The California Reparations Task Force is made up of academics, lawyers, civil rights leaders, lawmakers and other experts convened by Gov. Gavin Newsom and is tasked with studying the state’s role in perpetuating the legacy of slavery. The task force is expected to recommend proposals to the Legislature by next year. (Mayorquin, 2/2)

In other news from across the U.S. —

AP: Florida Senate Passes Bills On Addiction, Child Hearing Loss
While Democratic and Republican Florida lawmakers have had contentious debate on issues like abortion and immigration this year, the two sides came together to quickly pass 20 bills Thursday, almost all unanimously. The legislation included approving new state legislative districts, authorizing schools to stock and use medicines to counteract an opioid overdose and requiring insurance companies to provide hearing aid coverage for children. (Farrington, 2/3)

Charleston Gazette-Mail: WV Senate Advancing Bill To End Soda Tax, Transfer Other Money To Fill Gap For WVU Medicine
The West Virginia Senate Finance Committee passed a bill Thursday to end the state's soda tax in July 2024. The tax has been in place since 1951. The revenue from that tax - a penny for every 16.9-fluid-ounce soda and other rates for bulk syrup and other ingredients - all goes to West Virginia University's schools of medicine, dentistry, nursing and related programs. This legislation, Senate Bill 533, would redirect insurance tax revenue to fill the hole from the soft drink tax elimination. (Quinn, 2/3)

Stateline: GOP Lawmakers Kickstart New Wave Of Transgender Athlete Bans
South Dakota could become the first state this year to enact a law that would prohibit transgender girls from participating on sports teams for girls and women in high school and college. Without a floor debate, the state House on Wednesday advanced a bill that would ban transgender girls from playing on girls varsity sports and club teams at school and require schools to use the student’s birth certificate to determine eligibility. The bill—which now heads to Republican Gov. Kristi Noem's desk—mirrors a similar proposal she vetoed during the 2021 session. But this bill has her endorsement. (Wright, 2/3)

KBIA: How Medicaid Expansion In Missouri Could Help Reduce Recidivism 
With Medicaid expansion, a broad swathe of low-income Missourians are now eligible to receive public health insurance. That cross section includes people leaving prison, who often go from having basic health care in prison, to not having any on the outside. One of the first stops for people leaving prison in mid-Missouri is the Reentry Opportunity Center, in Columbia. The center sees about 80 people a month, most of whom are in the process of putting their lives together after being incarcerated. According to the center's program director, D'Markus Thomas-Brown, leaving prison often means starting from scratch. "When someone comes out ... they need everything, and they need it now," Thomas-Brown said. (Valdivia, 2/3)

Oklahoman: Oklahoma Schools Getting Millions In Medical Marijuana Tax Dollars
Oklahoma recently injected millions of dollars in new funding for hundreds of school districts with under-resourced facilities. The state distributed $38.5 million in Redbud School Grants for the first time on Friday. Lawmakers created the program last year to put medical marijuana tax dollars toward districts and charter schools that earn below the state average in local taxes that support school buildings. “It’s going to be huge for a lot of school districts and finally bring some parity," Rep. Kyle Hilbert said. Hilbert, R-Bristow, was an author of Senate Bill 229, the legislation that established the grant program. (Martinez-Keel, 2/3)

North Carolina Health News: NC Health Head Kinsley’s Vision For NC Forged By Lessons Of Past
Kody Kinsley, North Carolina’s new secretary of health and human services, knows firsthand what it’s like to be uninsured in this state and have limited access to health care. When he was a boy growing up in Wilmington, his father was a construction worker, whose first job in the port city was building sets for a movie studio. His mother cleaned houses. “I mean they’ve worked incredibly hard every day of their lives,” Kinsley said in a recent interview with North Carolina Health News. “But regardless of how hard they worked, when it came to keeping food on the table and keeping a roof over our heads, having enough money for health insurance was just not an option." (Blythe, 2/4)