State Highlights: Abortion Restrictions In Mississippi, Arizona
And in Hawaii and Los Angeles, some advocacy groups are worrying about providing health insurance to migrant workers and undocumented workers.
Los Angeles Times: Abortion Restrictions Take Effect In Arizona After Judge’s Ruling
Restrictions on some types of abortions in Arizona went into effect Tuesday morning after a federal judge upheld state changes limiting a woman's access to an abortion-inducing drug. U.S. District Judge David Bury issued an order Monday afternoon rejecting a bid to block the new abortion restrictions while the state’s 2012 law is litigated. The law allowed the state to issue new rules banning the use of the most common abortion–inducing drug, RU-486, after the seventh week of pregnancy, compared with the current restriction of nine weeks (Muskal, 4/1).
Houston Chronicle: Miss. Gov Says He Will Sign 20-Week Abortion Ban
Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant said Tuesday that he looks forward to quickly signing a bill that would ban abortion at 20 weeks, the midpoint of a full-term pregnancy. "This measure represents a great effort to protect the unborn in Mississippi," Bryant said in a statement after House Bill 1400 passed the House 91-20 and the Senate 41-10 (Wagster Pettus, 4/1).
Los Angeles Times: Healthcare Advocates Push For Medical Services For Uninsured
Healthcare advocates Tuesday urged the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors to set aside at least $11 million in additional funding for free medical services for low-income residents — including immigrants lacking legal status — who remain uninsured under Obamacare (Brown, 4/1).
The Associated Press: Court: Hawaii Not Required To Pay For Migrant Care
Hawaii isn’t required to fund Medicaid for migrants from three Pacific Island nations in Micronesia to make up for a reduction in federal funding, a federal appeals court ruled Tuesday. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said in a ruling filed Tuesday that Hawaii has no constitutional obligation to fill a gap left in 1996 when Congress cut health care funding for migrants under the Compact of Free Association (Garcia, 4/2).