News from rural America.

Political attitudes among rural voters are shifting, maternity care is complex – and becoming more so in rural Illinois communities where demographics have changed and Minnesotans vow to fight efforts overturning a ban on mining in the Boundary Waters.

TRANSCRIPT

For the Daily Yonder and Public News Service, this is the news from rural America.

New polling shows rural voters are worried about the state of democracy and reveals a shifting attitude toward the role of government.

Susanna Brown reports.

Lake Research Partners talked to 600 rural voters in 13 battleground states with the Center for Rural Strategies.

Pollster Celinda Lake.

A year ago, people were pretty in favor of government getting out of the way.

Now people are really divided about it and people see much more of a role for government.

And she says almost half of respondents have soured on President Donald Trump since 2025, with a third having a much more negative view.

It's a stunning growth in unfavorability because people usually resist saying they don't like someone they voted for because they don't want to admit that they made a mistake.

Economic worries are central for rural voters, including rising costs for food, gas and health care.

I'm Susanna Brown.

More than a third of Illinois counties lack proper maternity care, even as those rural areas bring in a younger, more diverse population that's having more kids.

Fewer rural providers and maternity ward hospitals mean longer travel times, which can delay prenatal care and mean worse health outcomes for moms and their babies.

Professor Karen Tabdina at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign says that's concerning for young immigrant families.

Imagine having limited access to health care based on geographic barriers, and then you also do not engage with the language of the clinic.

In Illinois, less than 2 percent of OBGYNs practice in rural areas.

When it comes to mental health care for the new parents, which can impact the kids, she says the doctor shortage is even worse.

Where we have high isolation, where people might be facing a perinatal mental health challenge by themselves for the first time while caring for a tiny human and they don't have the resources.

Minnesotans say the fight to protect the state's boundary waters from mining isn't over, even after the Senate reversed a Biden administration 20-year ban.

Senator Tina Smith voted against the bill and says there's a good basis for a court challenge.

The Senate and the House should follow the laws that they wrote on how public land orders are treated in this country, and I do not believe that that happened here.

The pristine Boundary Waters is known for its wildlife and recreation and is the nation's most visited public wilderness.

Republicans who support opening it say the mining operations would provide jobs and help America access critical minerals.

But Matthew Schultz, who is sportsman for the Boundary Waters, says they intend to fight the permits and use the environmental reviews.

If the senators that voted yes on this really feel that the process is going to do a good job, then I think it's our job to hold them accountable and ensure that that actually happens.

For the Daily Yonder and Public News Service, I'm Roz Brown.

For more rural stories, visit DailyYonder.com.