During the Wyoming Legislature’s “interim” session this summer and fall, small groups of lawmakers will meet as committees to discuss specific issues.
Ideally, the committees will prepare fine-tuned legislation that addresses the issues, and then propose it when the full Legislature next convenes in February 2026.
In a series of blog posts, Better Wyoming will break down some of the most important issues of the current “interim” session so folks can better know what’s going on and how to get involved.
ISSUE: Wyoming has inadequate healthcare services for pregnant women
COMMITTEE: Joint Labor Health
MEETING: June 23, 2025
Overview
Pregnant women in rural Wyoming already had problems finding a maternity ward nearby before four facilities—in Riverton, Kemmerer, Rawlins and Evanston—shut their doors in the past few years.
Now, expectant mothers sometimes travel more than 100 miles to a birthing center here or in another state, including in dangerous weather.
Making things worse is the fact that 11 of Wyoming’s 23 counties don’t even have a practicing OB-GYN for prenatal care.
According to the March of Dimes, more than one-fifth of Wyoming women live in a maternity care desert. The organization says the farther a woman must travel to receive maternity care, the greater risk of maternal death and adverse infant outcomes, such as stillbirth and NICU admission.
Sen. Charles Scott of Casper, Wyoming’s longest serving lawmaker, told colleagues what’s at stake if this effort fails.
“You want to destroy a community’s ability to attract new businesses and keep existing businesses that might be mobile?” he asked. “Take away their delivery care. Take away their obstetric care. It really puts them behind the eight ball.”
The Commonwealth Fund’s State Scorecard on Women’s Health and Reproductive Care ranked Wyoming 42nd in the nation, behind all of our neighbors.
Legislative background
Lawmakers in Wyoming are well aware of our maternal healthcare problem, but they have yet to do much of anything to attempt a solution.
In 2024, legislative leaders told the Joint Joint Labor, Health and Social Services Committee to take the issue up during its interim session. The committee “studied” the issue, but ultimately took no action.
Meanwhile, Gov. Mark Gordon formed the Governor’s Task Force on Maternal Health and Emergency Services.
Following his task force’s advice, Gordon asked the Legislature to provide $2.4 million to the Department of Health in 2025 to increase Medicaid reimbursement rates for maternal health providers. One-third of all births in Wyoming are covered by Medicaid.
But this funding was squashed when, for the first time in half a century, the Legislature failed to pass a budget in 2025.
What’s next?
The Joint Labor will once again take up the issue during the current “interim” session.
The committee’s first meeting includes maternal health on the agenda. They will discuss it, tentatively, at 1:30 p.m. on Monday, June 23.
People can watch the committee on the Wyoming Legislature’s YouTube channel (look under “Interim Committee Meetings” for Joint Labor Health) or attend in person at the Thyra Thomson State Building in Casper (444 W. Collins Dr.).
According to a memo prepared for the committee, possible solutions include expanding Medicaid, improving use of midwifery, reimbursement for doula care, and increasing telehealth services.