In 2011, funding for 150,000 Texas women for family planning and women’s health clinics was eliminated.  As a result of losing these services, Texas has the highest maternal mortality rate of any developed nation.  The maternal mortality rate for African American women, in Texas, is twice as high as that for Caucasian women. State Senate District 5 has 7 rural counties.  Many women in the rural counties have to go without care due to closure of the clinics and rural hospitals.