OPINION: A health care crisis of Labrador’s making

To hear Idaho Attorney General Raul Labrador tell it, he had nothing to do with Idaho lawmakers failing to pass a health exception to the state’s abortion ban — forcing doctors to choose between their patients’ well-being and their own legal jeopardy.

Despite former Idaho Supreme Court Chief Justice Jim Jones citing a direct source to the contrary, Labrador’s spokesperson, Dan Estes, labeled that assertion by legislative Democrats a lie: “This is just another example of Democrats not being honest with the people of Idaho about abortion issues.”

Don’t be fooled. As much as Labrador tries to twist out of this, he can’t. He’s the reason Idaho has no health exception. This is a health care crisis of his own making.

The man who once said “nobody dies because they don’t have access to health care” owns it.

Even without protection under Idaho’s abortion laws, women in crisis and the physicians who treated them had legal cover under a Reagan-era law — the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act — that obligates hospital emergency rooms that accept Medicare to provide stabilizing care for patients in crisis.

When the Biden administration made that point in August 2022, U.S. District Court Judge B. Lynn Winmill agreed and enjoined Idaho from prosecuting ER doctors who performed emergency abortions. Ever since, Labrador went to work to overturn it. He finally succeeded in January when his appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court — which was heard Wednesday — resulted in a revocation of Winmill’s injunction.

Even before that point, there was trouble.

Faced with the prospect of serving up to five years in prison, 22% of Idaho’s practicing obstetricians abandoned the Gem State. More than half of its maternal fetal medicine specialists went elsewhere. Candidates who might have otherwise come to Idaho have chosen to practice in other states. OB-GYN vacancies in Idaho are two or three times higher than normal. And three hospitals have closed their birthing centers.

When Labrador’s intervention removed any scintilla of protection for health care providers, the horror stories accumulated. Among the examples compiled by The Idaho Statesman’s Nicole Blanchard:

When a pregnant woman’s water broke prematurely, subjecting her fetus to certain death and the woman to the risk of serious infection and detachment of the placenta from the uterine wall, OB-GYN Becky Uranga was powerless to help. The patient sought an abortion in Oregon, but delivered the baby while traveling to Portland.

A second patient under Uranga’s care suffered the same condition. She didn’t want to leave Idaho for an abortion. “I don’t know what happened to her,” Uranga said. “But I think about her a lot.”

A doctor in Oregon told Blanchard he treated an Idaho woman 18 weeks pregnant who was suffering from HELLP syndrome, a form of preeclampsia. While being treated in Idaho, she lost one of her twin fetuses. By the time she got to Oregon, the second fetus died. “After all this, we had to coordinate transport back afterwards, after she had not gotten appropriate treatment for a long time and was in a terrible state,” the Oregon physician said.

About once a week, a pregnant patient’s water breaks prematurely, says St. Luke’s Hospital System Chief Physician Jim Souza. A year ago, his hospital referred one patient for out-of-state emergency treatment. Since January, six patients have required care beyond the reach of Idaho’s law and Labrador’s meddling. At this rate, the number could reach 20 before the year is out.

Doctors are advising pregnant women in Idaho to anticipate the worst and purchase memberships with companies like Life Flight Network. Otherwise, an emergency helicopter transport to a state where they can get help could run into the thousands of dollars.

If you think Labrador is merely following the wishes of his constituents, think again. A 2022 poll — released by United for Women and Families, a group contemplating putting abortion rights on the 2026 Idaho election ballot — shows not only a majority in favor of abortion rights, but also a nuanced attitude:

Asked if they supported charging health care providers with felonies for performing abortions, 63% said no.

Asked if the decision to abort a fetus should be left to women, their families and doctors, 63% said yes.

And 78% said they would “offer support for a woman seeking an abortion even if they didn’t personally agree with her decision.”

So when Idaho loses another OB-GYN or the state’s maternal health care deserts expand, you can say:

Raul Labrador did this.

When another distressed woman must put her life at risk to be treated in Idaho — or travel to another state to save her health — you can say:

Raul Labrador did this.

And when a majority of his constituents rise up and repeal Idaho’s dogmatic and heartless abortion laws, you can say:

Raul Labrador did this, too. — M.T.