Maryland ranks among the top states for women’s health, according to a new report.
Nonprofit tech company SmileHub finds Maryland is tenth among all states for women’s health when considering certain factors. Those include health and living standards, health care policies and support systems, and the safety of women.
Maryland was boosted by its fifth place safety ranking, which accounts for rates of suicide, depression and rape victimization in each state.
Jessica Lee, an OB-GYN and associate professor at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, credited the Maryland maternal mortality review committee, which helps spot trends and warning signs. She also said Maryland offers women the freedom to handle their pregnancies how they choose.
"Maryland makes it easy for a person to manage their desire to be pregnant in whatever way they wish," she said, "making sure that contraception is a covered benefit to anyone on state Medicaid, as well as any private insurer that operates in the state, as well as the ability to access abortion care services for anyone, pretty easily, within the state."
The state’s lowest ranking was 14th in the category of health-care policies and support systems. That includes metrics such as the quality of women’s hospitals and the number of 18- to 44-year-old women who have at least one personal doctor or health-care provider.
Lee pointed to the Maryland Contraceptive Equity Act passed more than a decade ago, which requires state-regulated insurance plans to cover all Food and Drug Administration-approved prescription contraception without co-pays. The legislation also allows doctors to dispense of up to 12 months of contraceptives for patients.
"That is hugely a game changer for keeping people protected against pregnancy if they want to be," she said. "If I can hand them 12 months of birth control at the time of seeing them, that was a game changer for me."
In 2024, more than 75% of Maryland voters approved an amendment enshrining the right to an abortion and other reproductive freedoms in the state constitution.
Source: Public News Service
