One Country Project

Good afternoon,

On Sunday, we fired up the grill for Father's Day. Raising a child is wonderful, but being a parent can be a challenge. Paid family leave policies can make it easier for working families to care for their kids while holding a job.

The festivities continued yesterday for Juneteenth, as we commemorated the emancipation of enslaved African Americans. It's a day to celebrate freedom, a core tenet of American values but nonetheless something that Americans have had to fight for again and again.

Juneteenth is 158 years old, but this is only the second year it has been recognized as a federal holiday. Discrimination against Black Americans persists in pervasive and often unseen ways throughout our country, and our agriculture industry is no exception. Black farmers have lost 90% of their land in the past century. Two-time Emmy nominated filmmaker Eternal Polk joined us at our Rural Progress Summit to discuss his latest film, Gaining Ground: The Fight for Black Land. The film shines a light on the long-standing challenge of Heirs' Property, how it perpetuates a cycle of land loss amongst Black landowners; and how agriculture and farmland are essential in building generational wealth.

As we celebrate hard-earned wins, we also look forward to continuing the fight for equity for all rural Americans.

Here's what else you need to know this week...

ONE YEAR AFTER THE DEVASTATING DOBBS DECISION

While last weekend was full of festivities, we face a much grimmer observance on Saturday: the one-year anniversary of the devastating Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization decision that overturned Roe v. Wade and federal protections for women's abortion access. As a consequence of the Dobbs decision, women in some states must travel more than 500 miles to the nearest abortion clinic – but other effects are more far-reaching.

Restrictions of the abortion pill mifepristone has prevented women experiencing a miscarriage from receiving necessary medical care, and instead pushed them into critical condition. For context, 15 to 25 percent of known pregnancies end in miscarriage. Millions of women trying to raise a family may suffer not just the loss of a wanted pregnancy, but may also risk losing their lives. While the Supreme Court froze mifepristone restrictions, it is uncertain how further appeals will affect access to care.

While doctors want to help, the nature of restrictions has left them in limbo over what life-saving services they can perform and what aspects of their job may entail legal suits, the suspension of their medical licenses, felony charges, and even prison time.

Idaho has the most restrictive abortion policies in the nation, which are pushing maternal-fetal medicine physicians to leave the state. Growing staffing shortages and an increasingly hostile political climate are closing rural hospitals' labor and delivery services – expanding maternity care deserts that disproportionately affect the 18 million women of reproductive age living in rural regions.

As a result of the Dobbs decision, doctors fear for their livelihoods and women fear for their lives. However, there is a silver lining: voters across the political spectrum overwhelmingly oppose abortion bans. When abortion is on the ballot, voters have turned out in record numbers to preserve abortion access and change the outcome of numerous campaigns across the country..

Get the Hot Dish on abortion in America with Democratic strategist Celinda Lake as well as OCP board member and Wisconsin Secretary of State Sarah Godlewski, and check out our 2023 Rural Progress Summit for a discussion on the evolving electoral impact of the Dobbs decision and how the battle for women's reproductive rights is playing out.

NEW POLL: RURAL HEALTH CARE AND ACCESS TO EMERGENCY SERVICES REQUIRE IMMEDIATE ATTENTION

A new survey from OCP and Save Our Air Medical Resources (SOAR) found that voters nationwide think health care in rural communities is markedly worse than in the rest of the country.
Since 2010, there have been over 130 rural hospital closures, forcing local residents to travel hours for critical medical services.
96 percent of voters agree that emergency air medical transportation is an important life-saving service for Americans in remote or rural areas.
To cover the costs of transportation, 84 percent of voters overwhelmingly support increasing the Medicare reimbursement rate for these air medical services, which current only cover 50 percent of the cost. With rural Americans disproportionately facing geographic barriers and lacking private insurance, it is crucial to expand affordable access to these air medical providers to help save rural patients' lives. Read the full release here.

	Each week, this newsletter highlights what's going on in rural states, counties, communities, and what One Country Project is up to around the country. If you value this content, please consider donating to One Country Project. Your contribution supports our efforts to connect with rural voters and to promote greater opportunities for rural communities.
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ONE COUNTRY IN THE NEWS

OCP founder Heidi Heitkamp joined Juju Chang on ABC Nightline to discuss the federal criminal indictment of former president Donald Trump.
OCP board members submitted a letter of Farm Bill priorities to Agriculture Committees' leadership. Read it here.