The Lone Star State landed at No. 46 in a new survey of women’s health and wellbeing across the 50 U.S. states conducted by charity-rating site Smilehub.
To compile the report, researchers compared states based on 18 key metrics using data sets such as maternal mortality rates, the quality of women’s hospitals and the affordability of doctor’s visits.
Texas ranked in the bottom half in several significant data sets. Among its standings, the state was:
Texas ranked 23rd in the nation in the study’s broad Women’s Safety category, which includes factors such a suicide and depression rates for women.
However, the state came in 50th in metrics under the Health Care Policies & Support Systems umbrella, which includes affordable doctor’s visits, abortion access and ability to visit a personal health care provider.
When it comes to the affordability and availability of doctor’s visits, Texas has long ranked as the nation’s most uninsured state. It’s one of just 10 that have refused to accept the federal Medicaid expansion.
What’s more, Texas stripped its residents from automatic Medicaid renewable faster than any other state following the pandemic. It’s so far jettisoned at least 2 million people from the program, most of them children.
Meanwhile, Texas has also been under a near-complete abortion ban since August 2022 with no exception for cases of rape or incest. Even so, the state’s Republican elected officials have made continued efforts to block women from obtaining legal abortion drugs from out of state.
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This article appears in Jan 22 – Feb 4, 2025.