Women may hold four out of Michigan’s top five statewide offices, but that doesn’t mean much for those who continue to face significant issues with equality in the workplace, health and education.

The personal finance website WalletHub recently examined 17 indicators of gender equality ranging from the gap between female and male executives to the disparity in unemployment rates to rank the “Best & Worst States for Women’s Equality” in 2024.

Researchers organized the data into three categories – workplace environment, education and health, and political empowerment – to rank states in each category, and provide an overall ranking.

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“Ensuring women’s equality requires more than simply giving men and women the same fundamental rights. States also need to work to make sure that women receive equal treatment to men when it comes to financial opportunities, education, and politics,” said Cassandra Happe, WalletHub analyst. “The best states for women’s equality have drastically reduced the disparities between men and women on multiple fonts.”

The analysis ranked Michigan 20^th overall, though that’s largely based on the state’s 3^rd place finish for political empowerment, which came in behind Hawaii in 2^nd and Maine in 1^st.

Voters elected Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer in 2018, along with Democratic Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson and Democratic Attorney General Dana Nessel. Incumbent Democratic U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow won a fourth term that same year.

All of those incumbents, save Stabenow, won second terms in 2022.

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Also in 2022, Michigan voters increased the number of women serving in the state legislature, while Democrats who wrested control from Republicans installed women in most of the legislature’s key leadership positions.

Yet six years later, women’s equality in the workplace, health and education severely lacks most states, with the vast majority outranking Michigan in the WalletHub analysis. Researchers ranked Michigan 39^th for its workplace environment rank, which examined disparities across income ranges, unemployment, entrepreneurship, work hours, job security, economic security, and the poverty rate.

For health and education, disparities in advanced education, math test scores and doctor visit affordability earned Michigan a 40^th place finish.

Despite the best ranking in the Midwest for political empowerment, Michigan’s rankings for the workforce and health and education fell below all states except Indiana’s 40^th place in workforce, and North Dakota’s 46^th place for health and education.

Michigan state Rep. Julie Brixie, D-Okemos, told Bridge Michigan in 2022 that her efforts as recruitment and training chair for House Democrats has benefitted from the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe V. Wade, both in terms of voter turnout and fundraising.

“When Roe fell and when we put reproductive rights on the ballot … I knew it was going to be really important for the outcomes and that the women were going to do really well,” she said, referring to Michigan’s 2022 ballot initiative to enshrine the right to an abortion in the state’s constitution.

“We focused our efforts heavily on the choice issue, knowing from all our work on the ground that everyone was concerned about that, Republican and Democrats, men and women,” Brixie said.

While the policies adopted by Democrats since have played a large role in the state’s steady decline across a wide variety of metrics, and done little to benefit women’s equality, the fixation on abortion did translate into a lot more “reproductive health care” in Michigan.

In 2023, Michigan set a 30-year record for the number of abortions with 31,241, capping off seven straight years of increases.

“That’s 1,132 more abortions (than last year) and it’s higher than any other year since 1994,” Bridge Detroit reports. “In fact, the rate of abortion among Michigan residents has been inching upwards to 16.5 abortions in 2023 for every 1,000 Michigan women 15 to 44 years old. That’s the highest rate since 1989 when the state reported the same.”

Where the trend goes from there is a mystery, as Democrats repealed the state’s reporting requirements for abortions despite strong warnings from health professionals about the potential ramifications for women’s health.

“As a physician caring for women, I have to wonder at the audacity to name this bill ‘reproductive health.’ All of these measures you’re trying to repeal were enacted for the protection of health and safety of women undergoing abortion in our state,” Catherine Stark, longtime ob-gyn that directs the Crossroads Care Center in Auburn Hills, told lawmakers in September 2023.

“While these may inconvenience the abortion provider, they do serve a purpose in allowing the public to know when a clinic is not safe, or a provider has repetitive violations of care,” she said. “Wouldn’t you want to know which abortion clinics have a high rate of complications, or which clinic has had their license revoked due to dangerous practices?

“How could you know without reporting, licensing, and inspections?”