Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Idaho Hospital Labor Ward Shuts Due To Abortion Politics, Staffing Shortage
Fox News: Idaho Hospital Blames Abortion Politics For Closing Of Labor And Delivery Department
An Idaho hospital made the decision to axe its labor and delivery department, saying the "political climate" made it too difficult to keep it staffed. "Highly respected, talented physicians are leaving. Recruiting replacements will be extraordinarily difficult," Bonner General Health, located in Sandpoint, Idaho, said in a social media post Friday. "The Idaho Legislature continues to introduce and pass bills that criminalize physicians for medical care nationally recognized as the standard of care. Consequences for Idaho Physicians providing the standard of care may include civil litigation and criminal prosecution, leading to jail time or fines." (Lee, 3/19)
Idaho Capital Sun: Citing Staffing Issues And Political Climate, North Idaho Hospital Will No Longer Deliver Babies
Idaho’s Bonner General Health, the only hospital in Sandpoint, announced Friday afternoon that it will no longer provide obstetrical services to the city of more than 9,000 people, meaning patients will have to drive 46 miles for labor and delivery care moving forward. “We have made every effort to avoid eliminating these services,” said Ford Elsaesser, the hospital’s board president, in a news release. “We hoped to be the exception, but our challenges are impossible to overcome now.” ... 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. (Moseley-Morris, 3/17)
Bonner County Daily Bee: BGH Shutters Labor, Delivery Services
The hospital will be unable to provide pediatrician coverage to manage neonatal resuscitations and perinatal care on a consistent basis as of May. That makes it unsafe and unethical to offer routine labor and delivery services. The hospital has reached out to active and retired providers for help with pediatric call coverage, but has been unable to come up with a long-term, sustainable solution. With an aging population, the number of deliveries at Bonner General has steadily declined. In 2022, the BFH delivered 265 babies and admitted fewer than 10 pediatric patients. (Lobsinger, 3/18)
On protecting abortion providers in Vermont and New Mexico —
AP: Vermont Senate Passes Bill To Protect Abortion Providers
The Vermont Senate on Friday passed a bill that aims to protect health care workers from disciplinary action for providing abortions and gender-affirming health care, and change insurance premium charges related to such care. The legislation defines reproductive and gender-affirming health care as legally protected “health care activities.” (3/17)
AP: New Mexico Passes Bill To Safeguard Abortion Providers
New Mexico legislators raced against the clock Friday to advance hard-fought proposals aimed at safeguarding abortion access, delivering tax relief and reducing gun violence in the final hours of a 60-day legislative session. Republicans in the legislative minority raised a series of objections during a House floor debate to a bill that aims to protect abortion providers and patients from out-of-state interference, prosecution or extradition attempts. (Lee, 3/18)
Abortion news from South Carolina, Tennessee, and Texas —
NBC News: 9 Republicans Pull Support Of South Carolina Anti-Abortion Bill
Nine South Carolina Republicans who had co-sponsored one of the most severe anti-abortion proposals in the country have since withdrawn their support, reversing course on a measure that proposed applying the state’s homicide laws to people who undergo abortions. The legislation, which had 24 co-sponsors — all Republicans — since its introduction in January, lost support from nine of them in recent weeks. (Richards, 3/18)
The Guardian: How Close To Death Must A Woman Be To Get An Abortion In Tennessee?
Months after the implementation of the most stringent abortion ban in the country, conservative lawmakers in Tennessee have publicly acknowledged that the state’s ban poses grave risks to the lives of women. Now a political debate over how to change the law is centered on questions that would have been considered unthinkable before last June’s reversal of Roe v Wade: like how close to death a woman must be before a doctor may legally treat her if it means terminating her pregnancy, and whether women should be forced to carry embryos with fatal anomalies to term. (Kirchgaessner, 3/20)
ABC News: Texas Abortion Law Means Woman Has To Continue Pregnancy Despite Fatal Anomaly
Kylie Beaton was looking forward to having her second child later this year. Now, she's faced with carrying an unviable pregnancy to its end due to Texas' highly restrictive abortion ban. According to a report from her doctor, Beaton's baby has a rare, severe condition impacting the development of its brain, but she is unable to access abortion care in her home state. (El-Bawab, 3/20)
In related news about elections —
AP: Trump Silent On Abortion As '24 Campaign Pushes Forward
No elected Republican has done more to restrict abortion rights in the U.S. than Donald Trump. But in the early days of the 2024 presidential contest, no Republican has worked harder to avoid the issue than the former president. Far more than his GOP rivals, Trump is sidestepping the issue just nine months after he and his party celebrated the Supreme Court’s decision to strip away women’s constitutional right to abortion. Look no further than Trump’s trip to Iowa last week for evidence of his delicate balancing act. (Peoples, 3/20)
Politico: Abortion On The Ballot? Not If These Republican Lawmakers Can Help It
After watching the pro-abortion rights side win all six ballot initiative fights related to abortion in 2022 — including in conservative states such as Kansas and Kentucky — conservatives fear, and are mobilizing to avoid, a repeat. “It was a wake-up call that taught us we have a ton of work to do,” said Kelsey Pritchard, the state public affairs director for Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, which plans to spend tens of millions of dollars on ballot initiative fights on abortion over the next two years. “We’re going to be really engaged on these ballot measures that are often very radical and go far beyond what Roe ever did.” (Ollstein and Messerly, 3/19)
