Holistic Well-Being & Reproductive Justice

What the Data Shows

Economic Security Affects Health

According to the state Department of Health, Minnesota will have healthier babies, more productive workers, and better overall health when employer provides paid family and sick leave. Economic status, racism, and prior victimization of violence, including sexual abuse, all affect women’s mental health.

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Cost & Access Create Barriers to Care

42% of Minnesota counties lack birth services. In 2022, 37 Minnesota counties have no hospitals providing obstetrics care, up from 15 in 2000.

Cost of health care is a greater barrier for Black and Latina women in Minnesota. In 2021, 14% of Latinas and 10% of Black women reported that they could not see a doctor because of costs in the past year. Minnesota’s decline in rural obstetric services now outstrips the national average.

Mental health care is not equitable across race. Women and girls of color and Native American women and girls are less likely than white women and girls to receive therapeutic treatment for a variety of reasons, including limited access, cultural norms, lack of sufficient healthcare professionals, and lack of culturally sensitive care approaches.

Depression is a mental health risk for both older and younger women, as well as LGBTQ+ Minnesotans. Only 27% of the demand for mental health professionals in Minnesota is met.

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Dignity in Pregnancy & Childbirth

Native Americans are 2.5 times more likely and Black people are 2.4 times more likely to die of pregnancy- or childbirth-related causes than white people, and over 60% of these deaths are preventable.

Over the past two decades, maternal mortality in the United States has increased, while in other high-income countries, it has decreased – despite the U.S. spending more, per capita, on health care. Minnesota was one of the top five states with the largest percentage increase of maternal mortalities for the Latina population.

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Restricting Reproductive Rights Has Lifelong Consequences

Living a safe and healthy life in Minnesota includes reproductive justice, a critical right for women, girls, gender-expansive people, and their families. Comprehensive reproductive healthcare, including abortion and contraception, improves the health, independence, and economic stability of women, gender-expansive people, and families.

Policy Advocacy for Systems Change: One of the greatest challenges to reproductive healthcare access is who pays, what’s covered, and how much is paid. Whether a person has public or private insurance, coverage has lagged far behind health care costs and payment for other types of health care, affecting:

• over-the-counter contraception
• procedures that allow patients to control their own reproduction
• pre- and post-natal care to ensure the mental and physical health of patients and babies
• culturally relevant care, including doulas and midwives.

Recent increases to reimbursement rates for public payors helped but did not make up for decades of flat rates. Payment reform is vital to changing our health care system to ensure better access for all seeking reproductive health care.