Just a few months after Idaho became the only state in the country to not have a maternal mortality review committee, efforts are underway to revive it.
Legislators let the previous committee disband last July. House Majority Leader Megan Blanksma (R-Hammett) introduced the bill Tuesday morning.
“It gives the responsibility to collect maternal mortality data to the Board of Medicine,” Blanksma said.
The board, she said, could then create a new committee responsible for interpreting the data and compiling and annual report for the Idaho legislature.
Blanksma said the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare continues to collect maternal mortality data, despite the loss of the committee.
Democrats criticized Republicans for letting the entity lapse last year. They said the group is especially needed given Idaho’s strict anti-abortion laws that don’t protect the health of the mother.
If approved by the legislature and signed by the governor, the bill would take effect this coming July 1.
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