BOISE, Idaho — The debate over Idaho abortion laws intensifies. The Supreme court hearing oral arguments as they consider whether the state's abortion laws violate the federal law known as the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act.
Locally, healthcare professionals express concerns over the protection of maternal health and the legal parameters surrounding pregnancy complications.
Local officials, like Boise Mayor Lauren McLean, weighing in on the hearing:
"We are in the national spotlight today while the Supreme Court considers the impact Idaho's extreme abortion ban has on people who need emergency healthcare. Let me be clear - we should all be free to make our own decisions, privately and with our doctors, about our bodies, lives, and futures. Physicians need to be able to provide the emergency health care they have been trained, and taken an oath, to do. Nobody should have to travel to another state for medical care they need, and yet that's what's happening because we are losing healthcare providers and emergencies can't be treated here. I stand strong with Boise's health care providers and those who care deeply about pregnant people in asking SCOTUS to preserve lifesaving healthcare," Mayor McLean wrote in a statement.
(The following is a transcription of the full broadcast story.)
"We have to remember that we have to keep moms healthy. If you don’t have a healthy mother, then there’s no really good outlook for the pregnancy," said Dr. Stacy Seyb, a physician with St. Luke’s Maternal-fetal medicine.
Debate over Idaho abortion laws, which currently grant exceptions only for rape, incest, and the life of the mother, is making its way to the Supreme Court to consider whether current laws violate the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act, known as EMTALA.
Local healthcare professionals, like Dr. Stacy Seyb, express concerns over the current legal parameters for treating patients experiencing pregnancy complications.
"‘CARE’ at this point is interpreted that the mother has to be really, really sick. Well, I think it is not uncommon for patients to be ‘somewhat’ sick, so to speak, but the outlook for the pregnancy and the outlook for mom's health are in jeopardy," said Dr. Seyb.
Dr. Seyb tells me, because of current abortion laws, he's had to send patients out of state to get the treatment they need.
“The current place we feel we are willing to act is unfortunately so far down the line that it really does jeopardize mothers. I think to let people get sick and then pull them back from the brink, that’s not good medicine," said Dr. Seyb.
But, the debates over the Defense of Life Act is something people on both sides of the issue are concerned about.
Brandi Swindell, founder of Stanton Medical—a healthcare group that offers life-affirming care—traveled to DC to hear the oral arguments. She supports laws that outlaw most abortions in Idaho.
"The people of Idaho, the women of Idaho, the families of Idaho support this law, the Defense of Life Act, and so for the Biden administration to come in is forcing their radicalized PR-abortion agenda on the people of Idaho," said Swindell.
And, Swindell highlights the mother’s life is protected under current law.
“We have never once had any concern about offering lifesaving care for women. And we know the law clearly. The Idaho’s law clearly states that there is protection for the health of the mother," Swindell said. This includes care for instances like ectopic pregnancies.
But Dr. Seyb says it is not enough. One way or another, doctors want clarity. “We would like some reassurance as providers that if someone disagreed with our judgment, they are not going to prosecute, and we don’t feel that we’ve gotten that kind of reassurance," said Dr. Seyb.
