Ellington

The Mississippi Senate has voted to make the state keep track of how many women die because of abortion.

There's one catch: That requirement has been in state law since 2004.

Senate Bill 2043, which passed the Senate on Thursday, tells the state Health Department to establish a Maternal Mortality Review Committee. The group would keep track of statistics about pregnancy-related deaths and make recommendations about how to reduce those deaths.

An amendment Thursday specifies that records must be kept about any death that occurs after a woman has an abortion.

The health department website shows no women died because of an abortion in Mississippi in 2012. That's the most recent year for which vital health statistics are available.

The measure goes next to the House for debate.