State Senator Kevin Kinney of District 39 was one of two Democrats who helped pass a bill this month that would give $1 million of state funds to anti-abortion pregnancy centers and expand Medicaid coverage for Iowans after they’ve given birth.

Senate File 2381 which passed 32-16, would require the Department of Human Services to create a statewide “More Options for Maternal Support,” or MOMS, program which is stated in the bill to reduce the number of abortions in Iowa through nonprofit organizations that provide nonmedical pregnancy support services. The bill would also expand Medicaid coverage from the current 60 day period to one year after childbirth, which is expected to cost about $5.6 million in fiscal year 2023 and about $8.9 million in fiscal year 2024. Sen. Kinney shares why he voted in favor, “It is opening up health issues and taking care of women and expanding that. It may not be done in the way that I would do it myself but it was helping my constituents and I felt that those women deserve the chance for expanded care.”

The bill now awaits consideration in the House. Senate Democrats proposed an amendment taking the pregnancy center funding out of the bill and replacing it with Medicaid coverage for doula care. The amendment defined a doula as a trained professional who provides continuous physical, emotional, and informational support to a pregnant person before, during, and after childbirth to improve birth outcomes, prevent stillbirths and infant deaths, and reduce maternal morbidity and mortality. In Iowa, non-Hispanic Black women are six times more likely than white women to die of pregnancy-related causes, according to the Iowa Department of Public Health.