SOPHIA PAFFENROTH/Mississippi Today

Mississippi Today
Mississippi crime lab sees increase in rape kits following new law
Twenty-seven percent more rape kits were sent to the state crime lab in 2024 than the year before in Mississippi.
 
Legislature sends bill requiring hospital ERs to stock, perform rape kits to governor
Mississippi hospitals will be required to perform rape kits on sexual assault victims who come to their ERs, pending a signature from the governor. Lawmakers passed the bill unanimously on Thursday. Rep.
 
Mississippi bill to revise law for low-income pregnant women passes first legislative hurdle
Low-income women in Mississippi would be able to access free prenatal care faster under a bill that has passed the House Medicaid committee.
 
Disproportionate number of Mississippi mothers died preventable deaths during COVID
New data shows that Mississippi women died of pregnancy complications at nearly twice the national rate during the COVID-19 pandemic. The latest Mississippi Maternal Mortality Report says the vast majority of those deaths were preventable.
 
Two Mississippi Delta health centers awarded competitive federal grant for maternal care
Two federally qualified health centers in the Mississippi Delta will receive a total of $3.6 million over four years from the federal government to expand and strengthen their maternal health services.