pregnancy
$15M grant allows UAMS to study improvements to postpartum care for underserved Arkansans
The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences will conduct a five-year study of new mothers throughout the state to come up with improvements for postpartum health care and work to reduce maternal mortality, the institution announced Wednesday. Researchers will compare two postpartum health care models — the Telehealth Multicomponent Optimal Model and the enhanced standard […]
Arkansas Legislature saw wide range of maternal and reproductive health legislation in 2023
Prenatal and postpartum healthcare policies rose on Arkansas’ priority list after abortion became illegal in the state, but did not rise high enough, according to advocates for the well-being of pregnant and newborn Arkansans. Rep. Aaron Pilkington, R-Knoxville, introduced several bills to bolster this area of healthcare during the 2023 legislative session. Some made it […]
U.S. Justice Department to ask Supreme Court to reject limits on access to abortion pill
This story was updated to reflect the Justice Department’s emergency filing with the U.S. Supreme Court. WASHINGTON — The U.S. Justice Department announced Thursday it will ask the Supreme Court on an emergency basis to keep access to the abortion medication mifepristone exactly as it is now, amid the appeals process in a much-watched case […]
Texas judge’s abortion pill ruling supported by 69 Republicans in Congress
WASHINGTON — A group of 69 congressional Republicans is backing a federal judge’s ruling that would overturn the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s two-decade-old approval of the abortion pill mifepristone. The 11 GOP senators and 58 House lawmakers, who filed a brief in the appeals case, broke the relative silence from Republicans in Congress on […]
Legislation on Arkansas governor’s desk would reboot $1M pregnancy resource center grant fund
Arkansas will offer another $1 million to pregnancy resource centers during fiscal year 2024 if Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders authorizes it. The state Legislature set aside the same taxpayer-funded amount last year to support “crisis pregnancy centers,” maternity homes, adoption agencies, and “social service agencies that provide material support and other assistance to individuals facing […]
Lawmakers reject two proposed exceptions to Arkansas’ abortion ban
The Arkansas House Judiciary Committee rejected two proposed exceptions to the state’s near-total abortion ban Thursday. House Bill 1670, sponsored by Rep. Ashley Hudson, D-Little Rock, would have added an exception in cases of incest, while House Bill 1684, sponsored by Rep. Denise Garner, D-Fayetteville, would have added the health of the mother as an […]
Postpartum Medicaid expansion is the first step to maternal health equity, experts say
Arkansas has the highest maternal mortality rate in the United States: 43.5 deaths from 2018 to 2021 for every 100,000 live births, according to the latest federal data. But the state only extends postpartum Medicaid to 60 days after childbirth. A bill by Rep. Aaron Pilkington, R-Knoxville, aims to change that and would seek to […]
Idaho bans nearly all abortions — and just declined to expand postpartum Medicaid coverage
Without coverage from Idaho’s Medicaid program, Moscow resident Erin Singer is convinced she would have felt forced to seek an abortion when she got pregnant with her son in 2017. And without coverage from Medicaid after she gave birth, Singer wouldn’t have been able to afford the physical therapy required to treat the debilitating pelvic […]
Ending a pregnancy in 14 states leaves few options. Some look to Europe and India for help
The pills came in a dark salmon-colored envelope sealed with a plastic covering that traveled more than 7,000 miles, over a dozen time zones from Nagpur, India, in almost exactly one week. They were placed partially under the doormat of a home in a state with one of the most restrictive abortion bans in the […]
The US remains a grim leader in preterm births. Why? And can we fix it?
Tamara Etienne’s second pregnancy was freighted with risk and worry from its earliest days — exacerbated by a first pregnancy that had ended in miscarriage. A third-grade teacher at an overcrowded Miami-Dade County public school, she spent harried days on her feet. Financial worries weighed heavy, even with health insurance and some paid time off […]
Support systems for pregnant and parenting high schoolers become Arkansas law
Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders signed a law Friday that would create support systems in public and charter schools for pregnant and parenting teenagers. The Support for Pregnant and Parenting Students Act, or House Bill 1161, passed both chambers of the Legislature without a single “no” vote. It was sent to Sanders’ desk on Wednesday. […]
Arkansas panel votes down requiring paid maternity leave of employers that cover abortion costs
An Arkansas Senate committee voted down a proposed law that would have required companies that pay for employees to receive abortions in other states to also provide 12 weeks of paid maternity leave. Rep. Aaron Pilkington (R-Knoxville) said he introduced House Bill 1006 after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade and left access […]