When It Comes to Healthcare, Women in South Dakota Deserve More

There is something deeply frustrating about watching decisions about women’s health become political talking points while the actual health care women need becomes harder to find.

In South Dakota, we can debate women’s health all day but for a woman in a rural community, the issue is much more basic: Can I see a doctor when needed? Is there prenatal care close to home? Where will I deliver my baby? Who will care for me after I give birth? Can I afford the care my family needs?

I continue to say because it’s important: the government should stay out of the doctor’s office.

I believe women’s health requires a whole-person, whole-life approach. It means making sure she can have a healthy pregnancy and safe childbirth, with prenatal and postpartum care available close to home. It means access to mental health care, including treatment for postpartum depression. And it means continuing to care for women long after their childbearing years with preventive screenings and evidence-based care through perimenopause, menopause, and later life.

Unfortunately, the numbers tell us we are moving in the wrong direction.

According to the South Dakota Department of Health, there has been a ten-year upward trend in both maternal and infant death rates in South Dakota. A University of Minnesota study found that South Dakota ranks second-to-last in the nation in the number of counties with hospital-based obstetric services, and those services continue to disappear.

This should concern every South Dakotan.

When a community loses its obstetric services, women don’t just lose a place to deliver a baby. They lose access to the network of prenatal, delivery, and postpartum care that helps keep mothers and babies healthy. They may have to travel long distances for routine care, and even farther if something goes wrong.

Here are some of the policies I would work for in Congress:

• Increase access to health insurance for pregnant women and maintain coverage for moms for at least 12 months postpartum.

• Protect the rural delivery sites we still have and rebuild local prenatal and postpartum care in communities that have lost services.

• Expand behavioral health services including mental health and substance-use treatment for pregnant women and new mothers experiencing postpartum depression or other challenges.

• Strengthen programs that prevent domestic violence and sexual assault while ensuring survivors can access safe housing, counseling, and legal services.

• Increase federal investment in women’s health research, including better understanding and treatment of perimenopause and menopause.

• Protect access to contraception and preventive health services, including breast and cervical cancer screenings.