Legal fight over abortion continues in Mississippi
Recent legal wrangling over a 1998 Mississippi Supreme Court ruling saying the state Constitution provides a right to an abortion highlights the uncertainty of Mississippi’s abortion ban. On Friday the Mississippi Center for Justice and Democracy Forward filed a motion saying an anti-abortion lawsuit filed by a group conservative doctors should be thrown out. The […]
Will Baptist and UMMC battle over burn care?
The University of Mississippi Medical Center and Mississippi Baptist Medical Center are vying to run a burn center in Mississippi — and both are seeking lawmakers’ help to establish them. Dr. Derek Culnan, the former medical director of the now-closed JMS Burn and Reconstruction Center at Merit Health Central in Jackson, said Merit gave him […]
Mississippi’s already troubling maternal mortality rate is worsening
A new report released Thursday by the Mississippi State Department of Health shows that the state’s maternal mortality rate — already one of the highest in America — is worsening. The report, conducted by 28 health care professionals and advocates who make up the Mississippi Mortality Review Committee, weighed the state’s maternal mortality data from […]
Advocates say licensed midwives could help Mississippi’s maternity care desert. Bills appear dead
Advocates say pending legislation on midwifery could help alleviate Mississippi’s lack of maternity health care and protect mothers and babies from those practicing without proper training. But Senate Bill 2793 and House Bill 1081 are likely going to die without a vote in committee this session, as legislative leaders say they need more time to […]
Pressure grows for lawmakers to pass postpartum Medicaid extension
As the first major legislative deadline of 2023 nears, legislative leaders face growing pressure to extend health care coverage for moms on Medicaid from two months to one year. After Speaker of the House Philip Gunn killed the effort last year, a bipartisan coalition of lawmakers, mothers across the state and health care professionals are […]
Photo gallery: A look inside medical marijuana facility Mockingbird Cannabis
A Mockingbird Cannabis tends to the “mother” medical marijuana plants at Mockingbird Cannabis in Raymond, Miss., January 20, 2023. These plants are used for create clones, which are cut from the “mother” plant and grow into plants themselves. Credit: Eric Shelton/Mississippi Today Mockingbird Cannabis, seen here on Friday, January 20, 2023, is located in Raymond, […]
Committee tasked with advising Medicaid votes to recommend extending health care coverage for new moms
A committee made up of members appointed by state leaders voted unanimously to recommend that the Legislature extend postpartum Medicaid coverage for new mothers from 60 days to 12 months. The Mississippi Medical Care Advisory Committee, which is tasked by state law to advise the Division of Medicaid about “health and medical care services,” cast […]
House passes ban on gender affirming procedures for those 18 and under
The House of Representatives, after lengthy debate and a partisan vote on Thursday, passed a bill that would ban gender affirming surgery and drugs for Mississippians 18 and under. The 78-28 vote, mostly along party lines, came after numerous Democratic lawmakers asked why the bill was needed, and why the House wasn’t instead addressing a […]
Hosemann announces Senate plan to help Mississippi hospital crisis
Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann said measures he’s pushing in the Senate will help with Mississippi’s hospital crisis “not just next year, but for the next generation.” The Senate plan would provide immediate help to hospitals with grants, remove legal barriers to consolidation of small hospitals and try to incentivize nurses and doctors to stay in […]
Why these Republican voters support, oppose Medicaid expansion
A new Mississippi Today/Siena College poll showed wide support for Mississippi expanding Medicaid to cover the working poor, including 70% support from Republican respondents. The numbers appear to show a continued shift of voter sentiment in what has long been a partisan battle. Mississippi’s elected Republican governors and other leaders for the last decade have […]