Reproductive health has been hit particularly hard. According to the Alabama Department of Public Health, only 16 of Alabama’s 54 rural counties have hospitals providing obstetric services. Seven counties have no hospitals at all. As of 2020, 40 percent of the state was considered a “maternity care desert” with virtually no access to services in 25 counties and low access in another 21. The closures have taken a toll. Alabama has some of the nation’s worst rates of maternal mortality, infant mortality, preterm births, cervical cancer and teen pregnancy — as well as wide racial disparities with even worse outcomes for people of color.
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