'We need to seek the next remedy'

A new statewide coalition called Idahoans United for Women and Families aims to advocate for access for full reproductive health care for Idahoans and is exploring a citizens' ballot initiative after they said two legislative sessions have passed without addressing Idaho’s abortion bans. 

“We need to seek the next remedy,” Melanie Folwell, the campaign spokesperson, said during a phone interview.

Idaho has several anti-abortion laws on the books, including one that makes performing abortions a crime even in medical emergencies unless they are done to save the life of the pregnant patient. The federal government has sued Idaho over the ban, contending it violates a federal law that requires hospitals to provide stabilizing care — including abortion — if a patient's life or health is at serious risk.

Idaho's attorneys say the ban allows for life-saving procedures for things like ectopic pregnancies, and they contend the Biden administration is trying to create a federal “abortion loophole” at Idaho hospitals.

The U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments in that case Wednesday.

Idahoans United for Women and Families is fundraising and hopes to have one or more ballot initiatives ready to propose this summer in an effort to get them on the 2026 ballot, Folwell said.

Cynthia Dalsing of Sandpoint is a board member in the new coalition. She said that licensed midwives have been overwhelmed as the obstetrics department there closed. The closest remaining place to get this kind of care is Coeur d’Alene.

“One of the reasons I’m in this group is that in Sandpoint, there’s almost no spokesperson for women who are pregnant or considering pregnancy,” Dalsing said.

As the District 1 representative for Nurse Practitioners of Idaho and a retired certified nurse midwife, Dalsing said she felt called to action. She said obstetrician-gynecologists and primary care physicians for women flee the state out of concerns about untangling what is actually permitted in the “trigger bans” in the event of emergencies.

“Women’s health care has just kind of gone underground. They’re very nervous about talking about it,” Dalsing said.

On one hand, an ectopic pregnancy or a fetus unable to live outside the womb is a life-threatening medical event. On the other hand, the concern exists that even if the letter of the law concerning pregnancy and reproductive health is followed, there could still be an unfounded accusation, misinterpretation or new ruling that could put the provider and their practice in jeopardy.

“When a physician is having to make a split-second decision on providing health care to save a woman’s life, they don’t have time to talk to a legislator or pick up the phone and talk to whatever attorney might be available,” Dalsing said.

All the medical providers wish is to automatically react to an emergency situation as they are trained to do.

“If you need your car fixed, you go to a mechanic. If you need health care, you don’t go to the legislator,” Dalsing said.

She worries about the negative health impacts on women and families and said the U.S. has the highest maternal mortality of developed countries.

Idahoans United for Women and Families is advocating for restoring access to comprehensive reproductive health care, including reasonable access to abortions; protecting access to birth control and fertility treatments like IVF and securing immunity for mothers and doctors against criminal prosecution.

In a news release, the group pointed out that in 2023, the Idaho Legislature passed HB 242, a first-in-the-nation law criminalizing individuals, including family members, who aid minors in leaving the state to access an abortion, even where it is legal.

For Dalsing, equity has never been present in reproductive health. But she said it's time to address reimbursement rates for health care providers, who receive a lower rate of care for items associated with women’s reproductive health.

Better reimbursement for wraparound care for needs such as postpartum depression is also high on her list of medical priorities.

Short of the ideal to have doctors become legislators making the laws impacting health, she hopes the coalition will be able to better educate people on issues related to reproductive health.

“Hopefully we could go back to where private medical decisions are kept between a woman and her physician,” Dalsing said. 

The Associated Press contributed to this report.