May the Fourth Be With You

May 4, 2023

May 04, 2023

May the Fourth Be With You, Healthcare Advocates

The truth of the matter is that you are the force that will change healthcare for all of us by making sure that our legislators know what we want over and over and over.

Reproductive Healthcare News

Idaho has some of the strictest rules regarding reproductive health. Recall there is a ban on all abortions unless it is required to save the mother’s life or the pregnancy is the result of rape or incest. Rape and incest must be documented in a police report. Saving the life of the mother means she must be near death before doctors will act. It is also a felony punishable by 2 to 5 years in prison to help a minor obtain an abortion. That includes providing medication or providing means to travel out of state, if you are not the parent.

How’s that working out ? Well, two hospitals have closed their labor and delivery facilities so far and we reported that St. Luke’s Hospital system hasn’t been able to hire physicians since last summer.

A new survey of doctors is also alarming. According to the Idaho Capital Sun a recent survey conducted by Dr. Lauren Miller, an expert in fetal maternal medicine, and the Idaho Coalition for Safe Reproductive Health Care. The response rate to the survey made it statistically robust and sound so the data is relevant. There were 2 questions.

Are you considering relocating out-of-state in the next year?

Yes: 48
No: 42
Maybe: 27

2. Are Idaho’s restrictive abortion laws contributing to your consideration of leaving medical practice in Idaho?

Yes: 73
No, other reasons: 2
Other: 0

It seems that having a baby in Idaho will soon become much more difficult. It is not a safe place to be pregnant.

Of course, Idaho is not alone. In Texas abortion is banned after 6 weeks, abortion providers can face life in prison,, and anyone who aids or abets an abortion can can be sued by anyone, At least 15% of the 254 counties in Texas have no doctors, and it is not not uncommon to have to drive hours for medical care including maternal services over large swaths of the state. The March of Dimes lists it as among the worst states for maternity care access, which has decreased in a dozen Texas counties in the past two years, mostly due to a loss of obstetrics providers.

We have seen over and over that there is a problem in healthcare when someone stands between you and your provider. Here it is lawmakers who want to relegate women to 2nd class status as property and womb-slaves because they believe they are not capable of taking care of themselves. The damage they do is great. Already maternal mortality is greater in the US than the other OECD countries. This callous, self-righteous behavior will literally kill women. This is not who we are and needs to be stopped at the federal level.

Use the Force Take Action

Phone/Contact

Call or contact your Senators and Congressperson and tell them you want them to sponsor and vote for the Women’s Health Protection Act and the Equal Access to Abortion in Health Insurance Act (EACH). You can find their phone numbers/homepage contacts here or in the references below.

The text can be easy. Try “ I am your constituent in zipcode_______. I want you to cosponsor and actively support the Women’s Health Protection Act and the Equal Access to Abortion in Health Insurance Act (EACH). You are either a woman, or are related to one and you owe them this.”

Resistbot (See References)

Text SIGN PCGGRJ to 50409 to tell your Congressperson and Senators “I am your constituent. I want you to cosponsor and actively support the Women’s Health Protection Act and the Equal Access to Abortion in Health Insurance Act (EACH). You are either a woman, or are related to one and you owe them this.”