Idaho's doctors and patients live in fear of criminal prosecution for performing, getting abortions
Susie Keller, CEO of the Idaho Medical Association, speaks about how medicine has gotten much more difficult to provide since the state's abortion ban took effect
Idaho’s antiabortion ban has devastated its medical community and the patients it provides for.
Much of that was highlighted in a recent Senate report in which the big news was that one patient a week had to pay for helicopter transport to get a medically needed abortion. After reading that, I arranged an interview with Susie Keller, the chief executive officer of the Idaho Medical Association.
“I can't begin to imagine the financial and emotional toll that takes on them and their families, and for those people who are being hurt most by this law,” Keller said. “It's very unfortunate.”
Keller told me that they’ve lost more than 50 OB/GYNs in the state since the abortion ban took effect. But it’s not just the high-paying maternal care jobs that have had a tough time getting filled. Smaller support staff, like surgical technicians and nurses, also have faced shortages.
“The number of candidates per vacancy has plummeted, and it's taking, on average, now twice as long to fill a position if they can,” Keller said.
In certain situations, like an ectopic pregnancy, abortions are a necessary procedure to preserve and maintain the mother’s health. Some who have faced complications but who haven’t been adequately cared for by obstetricians may show up in emergency settings to get what they need. The Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act, EMTALA for short, stipulates that emergency staff must provide all required care, including abortions. The Biden Administration challenged an Idaho law known as the Defense of Life Act, which prohibits abortions unless they save the mother’s life.
The Idaho abortion ban was at the center of the Moyle V. United States case that the court ruled on earlier this summer. In an unintentionally released opinion that was unusually divided over legal reasoning, the Supreme Court decided that it would permit hospitals in Idaho to perform abortions in emergency settings. But the victory was temporary. The judges sent the case back down to the Court of Appeals, where it will be deliberated upon further before a potential reappearance in the Supreme Court.
Keller told me that there was a high level of trepidation among physicians and doctors who don’t want to face the draconian sentences that come with violating the state’s abortion ban. They face five years in prison for performing the procedure. That’s not the worst sentence I’ve heard about. That title belongs to Texas, which can dole out 99 years in prison for performing it against the state’s ban. The sentence in Idaho is reminiscent of what it was before Roe.
Though it may appear as if Idahoans view abortion less severely, that still means five years of a person’s life may be behind bars as a result of performing abortions in emergencies.
“Our State's Attorney General has made a lot of public statements making it very clear that he is very supportive of the current law,” Keller said. “And I think that has created another level of fear.”
In the Moyle case, one of the amicus briefs was filed by pro-choice prosecutors who argued why the court should rule in favor of EMTALA. I spoke to Eli Savit, a prosecuting attorney in Washtenaw County, Michigan, about the brief. He said that prosecutors don’t have medical expertise by and large. So, it would be difficult for law enforcement to distinguish between what would be a medically acceptable reason to perform an abortion.
Savit also thought the prospect of criminal prosecution would dissuade doctors from performing their duties in certain situations. Prosecutors in states where it is illegal could also be inundated with reports of abortions and then be tasked with investigating everyone who performs an abortion to see if it was done correctly.
“It's just not something that we're set up to do,” Savit said.
Keller said that she heard anecdotally from some physicians who have been faced with these situations that they’re calling hospital administrators and attorneys for guidance. That causes delays and makes a woman’s condition riskier as time goes on.
“We definitely want to make changes to the law to ensure that women, fathers, and families who want to have babies, and I know can do so safely without fear,” Keller said.