Abstract

PIP: Summarized in this review from the Alan Guttmacher Institute is all reproductive health-related legislation enacted in the US on a state level during 1991. Of the 293 abortion bills introduced in 47 legislatures, 181 sought to restrict abortion and 81 sought to protect abortion rights. Only 16 of these bills were enacted. Although Maryland and Washington enacted new laws codifying the basic parameters of Roe v Wade, Louisiana and Utah passed bills to make abortion illegal in most cases. Widespread attempts to enact parental notification clauses or waiting periods were generally stalled or vetoed. 13 states will continue to fund abortions in 1992; no new measures to re-establish or deny public funding were approved. Despite the scope of the adolescent pregnancy problem in the US, only Alaska, Georgia, and Kansas passed bills linked to this issue. There was a similar lack of attention to school-based health services; most legislation in this area mandated the teaching of sexual abstinence. None of the 10 bills introduced to guarantee access to contraception was approved, including several controversial ones encouraging Norplant acceptance by poor women. The 58 bills enacted in adoptions pertain largely to access to confidential adoption records; 3 of 11 bills requiring that health insurers pay the costs of certain infertility procedures were passed. Finally, state budgetary constraints appeared to deter further expansion in 1991 of prenatal care programs for poor women or the creation of treatment programs for pregnant women with drug or alcohol addictions. The majority of bills introduced in this area were focused on family leave provision and the prohibition of discrimination against pregnant women in the workplace.