Kaiser Daily Women's Health Policy Report Highlights Issues In Various States

The following highlights recent state news on women's health issues.
California: A state law that effectively bans vaccines that contain the preservative thimerosal from use in pregnant women and children younger than age three took effect Saturday, the Sacramento Bee reports (Griffith, Sacramento Bee, 7/4). California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) in September 2004 signed the legislation (AB 2943), which restricts use of vaccines containing more than trace amounts of ethyl mercury in pregnant women and young children because of concern that the mercury could damage the developing brains of fetuses or children. The law requires physicians to stop administering vaccines containing more than trace amounts of thimerosal -- a preservative that is about 50% ethyl mercury -- to pregnant women and infants. The law allows state officials to waive thimerosal restrictions during a public health emergency, including a severe flu vaccine shortage (Kaiser Daily Women's Health Policy Report, 9/30/04). To comply with the law, the state has ordered 50,000 doses of thimerosal-free flu vaccine for children ages one to three and 15,000 such doses for pregnant women. State Health and Human Services Agency Secretary Kim Belshe issued a 12-month exception for vaccination against the mosquito-borne disease known as Japanese encephalitis. She said the "risks of fatal disease or brain injury far exceed any risk of mercury in the vaccine." There is no mercury-free substitute available. California distributes about 32,000 doses of the Japanese encephalitis vaccine annually, though there is no data available that show how many pregnant women and young children receive it, according to the Bee (Sacramento Bee, 7/4).

California: Bill Gross, founder and CEO of the bond and money market manager PIMCO, and his wife Sue have pledged $10 million to the University of California-Irvine's proposed stem cell research center, UCI announced Wednesday, the Los Angeles Times reports. The Grosses initially will give $2 million for staffing and equipment needs (Suarez, Los Angeles Times, 7/6). The other $8 million will be a matching gift for the proposed research center, Bill Gross said (AP/San Jose Mercury News, 7/5). UCI spokesperson Farnaz Khadem said the university hopes the other end of the matching $8 million donation for the $80 million facility will come from a California Institute for Regenerative Medicine grant (Los Angeles Times, 7/6). "We feel it is important to face your convictions and do the right thing -- even if controversy follows a cause you support," Gross said in a statement (Reuters, 7/5). Gross' family has donated $53 million to health and education groups over the last 18 months, including a $20 million donation to build a women's health tower at Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian in Newport Beach, Calif. (Los Angeles Times, 7/6).

Minnesota: The AP/St. Paul Pioneer Press on Thursday profiled some of the groups receiving $4.75 million in state Department of Health grants as part of a public information campaign about fetal development, alternatives to abortion and other services for pregnant women (Lohn, AP/St. Paul Pioneer Press, 7/6). Gov. Tim Pawlenty (R) last year signed into law a bill (SF 917) that establishes a "positive alternatives" to abortion program and requires the health department to launch a public information campaign about fetal development, alternatives to abortion and other services for pregnant women. The measure allows state funding for organizations that mention abortion as an option but do not encourage abortion or arrange for abortion services. The law prohibits funding from going to organizations that give "inaccurate medical information." The health department earlier this month began awarding the grants for the two-year program to 37 not-for-profit groups that discourage abortion, encourage adoption and provide prenatal counseling and other health care services for pregnant women (Kaiser Daily Women's Health Policy Report, 7/3). The largest grant, of $285,000, went to Roseville, Minn.-based Cradle of Hope, which provides cribs to pregnant women in the state. The AP/Pioneer Press also profiled the North Side LifeCare Center in Minneapolis, which received a $129,180 grant to help expand its prenatal care and other services, and the Face to Face Health and Counseling Service in St. Paul, which does not have a position on abortion and received a $145,215 grant for pregnancy support services (AP/St. Paul Pioneer Press, 7/6).















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