Sarah Fentem
Sarah Fentem reports on sickness and health as part of St. Louis Public Radio’s news team. She previously spent five years reporting for different NPR stations in Indiana, immersing herself deep, deep into an insurance policy beat from which she may never fully recover. A longitme NPR listener, she grew up hearing WQUB in Quincy, Illinois, which is now owned by STLPR. She lives in the Kingshighway Hills neighborhood, and in her spare time likes to watch old sitcoms, meticulously clean and organize her home and go on outdoor adventures with her fiancé Elliot. She has a cat, Lil Rock, and a dog, Ginger.
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On Jan. 1, those 18 and under who enroll in Missouri's insurance programs for low-income people will not be removed for 12 months. -
Infant mortality in Missouri went up 16% between 2021 and 2022, according to federal data released earlier this month, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Missouri was one of only four states that showed a significant rise.
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A mobile clinic is on a Missouri road trip offering free vasectomies this week. The trailer stopped Thursday in St. Louis and also will visit clinics in Springfield and Rolla.
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Between 2018 and 2020, more than 200 women in Missouri died during pregnancy or in the year after giving birth, according to a state health department report released this week. The number of deaths has increased since the 2022 report. The number of deaths from suicide and firearms increased, and Black women were three times as likely to die during or after pregnancy than their white counterparts.
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St. Louis County Circuit Judge Ellen Ribaudo granted a request from the Missouri chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, Lambda Legal and their plaintiffs to extend the pause on Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey's rule limiting transgender care for another two weeks.
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Temporary emergency regulations that prohibit doctors from providing gender-affirming care to transgender people unless they meet stringent requirements are slated to take effect April 27. Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey says the rules are meant to protect minors from hasty and risky medical procedures. Transgender patients say the rules go against the recommendations of medical professionals.
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During the COVID-19 pandemic, the federal government prevented states from kicking people off MO HealthNet, Missouri's Medicaid health insurance program. That provision ends April 1, and state residents will once more need to prove their eligibility for the low-cost coverage.
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The National Women’s Law Center and Americans United for Separation of Church and State filed suit Thursday in St. Louis Circuit Court on behalf of 13 faith leaders in Missouri. The lawsuit claims Missouri’s so-called trigger ban and other laws restricting abortion access violate residents’ religious freedom.
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Millions received the COVID-19 vaccine, which was the first widely used immunization to use mRNA technology. Washington University researchers hope they can use the same method to make an mRNA flu shot.
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A $1 million grant from the National Science Foundation will fund the project, a collaboration among eight partner institutions in Missouri and Illinois.
