For example, according to a state report, Montana’s total childcare capacity met 44% of the estimated demand in 2021, and infant care capacity met only 34% of the estimated demand. Garfield County met only 23% of the potential demand for children under 6. Nationally, the rural health advisory committee has found, childcare deserts are most likely to be located in “low-income rural census tracts.”

In a survey of 216 rural hospitals in 10 states, family practice doctors delivered babies in 67% of the hospitals, and at 27% of the hospitals they were the only ones who delivered babies. The data counted babies delivered from 2013 to 2017. And, the authors found, if those family physicians hadn’t been there, many patients would have driven an average of 86 miles round-trip for care.

Harvey and Mumford aren’t alone. A growing number of students on college campuses nationwide are stepping in to provide other students with free or low-cost emergency contraceptives, birth control, and menstrual products.

They are also pushing back against threats to their reproductive freedom since the U.S. Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision last year, which eliminated federal abortion protections.

Since April, nearly 5,000 fewer Montanans are receiving SNAP benefits. But that doesn’t necessarily mean fewer people qualify, said Lorianne Burhop, chief policy officer for the Montana Food Bank Network. Clients without internet access, unlimited cellphone minutes, or the ability to travel to a public assistance office may not be able to jump through the hoops to keep their benefits.

About a quarter of large U.S. employers heavily restrict coverage of legal abortions or don’t cover them at all under health plans for their workers, according to the latest employer health benefits survey by KFF.

They say several factors — including the Supreme Court’s decision to strike down federal protections for abortion rights, intensifying political pushback against sex education, and the impact of the covid-19 pandemic on youth mental health — could start to unravel decades of progress.

The law, which goes into effect in October, will gut patients’ ability to take legal action if they believe they didn’t receive proper care due to a conscientious objection by a provider or an institution, such as a hospital.

Montana lawmakers in the recently ended legislative session voted for a state budget that contains $6.2 million in state and federal funds over the next two years to extend continuous postpartum eligibility from 60 days to 12 months after pregnancy.

Erica Coyle, executive director of Haven, said the nonprofit’s old shelter had been a not-so-well-kept secret for years in the city of more than 54,000 people. “Our job isn’t to rescue a survivor and keep them hidden away,” Coyle said. “What we need to be doing overall, as communities and as a movement, is listening to survivors and when they say, ‘The isolation of staying in a shelter is a big barrier for me.’”

Kole Burdick, 20, also of Bozeman, said it’s important to “uplift queer people and show moments of queer joy,” and commended Zephyr and Howell for their work.

“I think they’ve been working really hard to protect our community and keep our community safe, and I really appreciate them for that,” Burdick said.