Abortion health exemption bill introduced

BOISE — Two North Idaho lawmakers are hoping to amend Idaho’s abortion bans to address Idaho’s doctor shortage.

Rep. Mark Sauter, R-Coeur d’Alene, and Sen. Jim Woodward, R-Sagle, on Friday presented a draft bill that would provide for a health exception — rather than just to prevent the death of the mother — and include more definitions around when the procedure would be allowed.

Senate State Affairs Committee Chairperson Jim Guthrie, R-McCammon, said there wouldn’t be a full hearing on the bill.

This is the second bill heard this session that proposed to amend Idaho’s abortion statute — the other one would have allowed battery or homicide charges for the injury or death of a fetus and remove rape and incest exemptions; that bill will also not come forward for a hearing this year, the Idaho Press reported.

“We feel obligated to start this conversation again regarding our laws in Idaho, which affect women, children and the unborn,” Woodward told the Senate State Affairs Committee on Friday. “I do not believe in elective abortion. But I do believe in providing medical care for very particular situations that we were trying to address.”

Sauter spoke to the limited access to women’s health care that North Idaho faces — with the closure of the labor and delivery services at Bonner General Health and the departure of multiple OB-GYNs and a maternal fetal specialist.

He said that the threat of steep civil penalties and felony prison time under Idaho’s current laws, which include only narrow exemptions to prevent the death of the mother or in some cases of rape and incest if there’s a police report provided, are contributing to doctors’ exodus from the state.

Sauter said he worked with Boise OB-GYN John Werdel, former medical director for women’s services at St. Luke’s Health System, on the wording and definitions in the bill.

The bill would add an exemption to the felony charges if the physician determined with “reasonable medical judgment, that the abortion was necessary to prevent a serious health risk to the mother.” The definition of serious health risk includes a condition that, if left untreated, “could be reasonably expected to result in substantial impairment to a major bodily function, including any harm that would render the mother unable to conceive or carry a pregnancy in the future.”

The proposal would also allow an exemption for a lethal fetal anomaly, which would mean a “profound and irreversible” abnormality that is “incompatible with sustained life after birth.” The exemption would only apply if two physicians certified in writing that the fetus was diagnosed with a lethal fetal anomaly and if the woman was informed that perinatal hospice and perinatal palliative care services are available as an alternative to abortion.

“Regardless of what you’ve heard, physicians really don’t feel safe providing reproductive health care in Idaho,” Werdel said. “The threat of criminal lawsuits has been overwhelming for many of our physicians, the main reason so many of our colleagues have left the state.”

Guthrie said he allowed the bill to be brought forward and discussed more at length than a typical introductory hearing — which are typically shorter, more cursory hearings to decide whether a bill should be “printed” and brought back for a full public hearing.

“Even though it’s a print hearing, this is a monumental discussion that has been ongoing,” Guthrie said.

The hearing Friday was somewhat stilted — with Sauter’s presentation interrupted twice by Senate Minority Leader Lori Den Hartog, R-Meridian, who first asked him to focus on the content of the bill, then later stopped him mid-discussion to make a motion to introduce the bill.

Den Hartog said she would support introducing the bill as a “courtesy to one of our members,” but she had “serious and grave concerns with the legislation as drafted.”

Sen. Treg Bernt, R-Meridian, said he’d never seen someone get cut off with a motion before.

He later said, “I just would hope going forward that we would give discretion to other senators and those who are members of our caucus, the right to be able to present their bill, just like we have this session with other similar topics.”

“I think cutting this senator off in this discussion is disrespectful,” Bernt said.

Senate President Pro Tempore Kelly Anthon, R-Rupert, said he supported introducing the bill for the discussion it would bring.

“The Republican caucus and all of our members are pro-life, and inside of that pro-life position are nuances, and at times it can be pronounced,” Anthon said. “And there are difficult questions to be answered inside of those nuances.”

Sauter later told the Idaho Press he may continue to work on the legislation during the interim and bring another proposal back next year.

House State Affairs Chairperson Brent Crane, R-Nampa, would have discretion on whether to bring the bill up for a full public hearing. Crane told the Idaho Press on Friday that he supported introducing the bill for the discussion, but he’s not sure yet it will move forward.

He has said the attorney general recommended not changing the laws until the multiple lawsuits around the law are settled. Crane said he planned to wait for direction from the courts before changing the law’s parameters.

Guido covers Idaho politics for the Lewiston Tribune, Moscow-Pullman Daily News and Idaho Press of Nampa. She may be contacted at lguido@idahopress.com and can be found on Twitter @EyeOnBoiseGuido.