Miss. Senate passes bill that could shut state's only abortion clinic; Arizona lawmakers get knitted uteruses as protest

The Mississippi bill, which would require doctors working at abortion clinics to have admitting privileges to a local hospital, passed the House last month and is expected to be signed by the governor. Meanwhile, 32 Republican lawmakers in Arizona received knitted uteruses as part of a national protest against government regulation of women's health.

The Associated Press: Miss. Passes Abortion Bill That Could Shut Clinic
The Mississippi Senate has given final passage to a bill that could close the state's only abortion clinic. The bill would require doctors working at abortion clinics to be certified as obstetrician-gynecologists and to have admitting privileges to a local hospital. The clinic's owner told The Associated Press that all of its physicians are OB-GYN's, but only one has admitting privileges (Tillman, 4/5).

Arizona Republic: Contraception Bill To Be Revived In Amended Form
Legislation to allow businesses to opt out of providing contraception health-care coverage will likely be revived next week, but the sponsor plans to amend it so that it applies to only religious-based employers such as St. Vincent de Paul. House Bill 2625 in its current form would allow any business or insurance company to opt out for religious reasons. The business or insurance company would still have to cover any contraception prescribed for reasons other than to prevent pregnancy or cause an abortion. In such cases, the patient would cover the cost and submit a reimbursement request to the insurance company (Rau, 4/5).

The Associated Press: Feds Receive Kan. Abortion Complaint
A federal agency has received a civil rights complaint about a former Kansas abortion provider's disposal of hundreds of patients' medical records in a recycling bin, an official said Friday. Meanwhile, a state regulatory board is working on an agreement on the permanent custody of other files still in his possession. Leon Rodriguez, director of the Office for Civil Rights in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, said it received a complaint March 26 about Krishna Rajanna's handling of confidential patient files (Hanna, 4/5).

Arizona Republic: State GOP Lawmakers Get Unique "Gift:" Knitted Uteruses
Thirty-two Republican lawmakers at the state Capitol received an unusual gift on Thursday: knitted uteruses. Peggy Tinsley delivered the craft uteruses as part of a national knitting project that aims to take a stand against government regulation of women's bodies, including restrictions to contraception health-care coverage (Rau, 4/5).