Here's the direction Iowa (and many other "Red states) are also heading:
The hospital’s board of directors and senior leadership called the decision an emotional and difficult one in the press release, and cited a loss of pediatricians, changing demographics and Idaho’s legal and political climate around health care as the reasons for the decision.
According to the press release, Bonner General Health delivered 265 babies in 2022 and admitted fewer than 10 pediatric patients, which is a decrease from prior years that reflects a nationwide decrease in births and an older population moving to Bonner County.
“Without pediatrician coverage to manage neonatal resuscitations and perinatal care, it is unsafe and unethical to offer routine labor and delivery services,” the press release said, citing months of negotiations that sought to avoid the outcome. “BGH has reached out to other active and retired providers in the community requesting assistance with pediatric call coverage with no long-term sustainable solutions.”
The release also said highly respected, talented physicians are leaving the state, and recruiting replacements will be “extraordinarily difficult.”
Idaho has one of the most restrictive abortion bans in the country, with affirmative defenses in court only for documented instances of rape, incest or to save the pregnant person’s life. Physicians are subject to felony charges and the revocation of their medical license for violating the statute, which the Idaho Supreme Court determined is constitutional in January.
“The Idaho Legislature continues to introduce and pass bills that criminalize physicians for medical care nationally recognized as the standard of care,” the hospital’s news release said. “Consequences for Idaho physicians providing the standard of care may include civil litigation and criminal prosecution, leading to jail time or fines.”
Dr. Amelia Huntsberger, an obstetrician-gynecologist at Bonner General Health, said in an email to States Newsroom that she will soon leave the hospital and the state because of the abortion laws as well as the Idaho Legislature’s decision not to continue the state’s maternal mortality review committee.