Idaho women continue to lose health care providers after Dobbs | Opinion
At the Idaho Coalition for Safe Healthcare, our north star is simple: safe, evidence-based, accessible healthcare for all Idahoans, and a healthcare system that trusts the patient-provider relationship.
Our clinician-led, community-driven organization brings together nearly 3,000 members from across Idaho, and today we’re reflecting on how patient care has changed in the four years since the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade.
Four years ago, a pregnant woman in Idaho could get the care she needed from her own doctor in her own community. Her doctor was legally allowed to practice medical standards of care. She and her doctor were able to engage in true shared decision-making, a hallmark of good medicine.
Shared decision-making means that a doctor provides medical information and insight to a patient, answers all of the patient’s questions, offers up the medically indicated courses of treatment and supports the patient’s decision on care.
This model aligns with Idaho’s tradition of independence and liberty while trusting Idahoans to privately make the medical decisions that align with their values.
When the US Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in their Dobbs v. Jackson decision on June 24, 2022, Idaho’s Defense of Life Act became law. This law criminalized all abortions except those to “prevent the death of the mother” and imposed devastating penalties for any doctor who provided abortion including fines, jail time and loss of license. A separate law, the Amended Fetal Heartbeat Preborn Child Protection Act, added a civil penalty, allowing certain individuals to sue doctors for a minimum of $20,000.
In 2023, the Idaho State Legislature added exceptions for ectopic and molar pregnancies to the law along with an exception for pregnancies resulting from rape or incest if the patient can provide a completed police report to the doctor.
Between August 2023 and December 2025, 35% of Idaho’s OB-GYNs stopped practicing here. Some retired, a few stopped practicing obstetrics, and many moved to states where they could deliver the medical standard of care without legal penalties.
Today, pregnant women in Idaho have 35% fewer OB-GYNs to care for them during one of the most consequential times of their lives. The OB-GYNs who continue practicing in Idaho have taken on more patients, work longer hours and see no relief in sight. Recruiting OB-GYNs is slow-going in a state that legally prevents them from providing the full spectrum of reproductive healthcare for their patients.
The loss of those doctors impacts far more than the women who, if not facing an urgent medical situation, may wait months for a gynecological exam or be required to travel long distances for both basic care and surgical needs. The loss of these doctors has impacted the entire healthcare system.
As a state, we rank 50 out of 51 when it comes to patient-provider ratios. Without a tie to Idaho, doctors are less likely to train here today and doctors who do train here are less likely to stay here than they were four years ago. Those who train here have gaps in their training when it comes to reproductive healthcare. This is not coincidence. This is the direct result of laws that drive experienced doctors out of Idaho and compromise the training of those who stay.
There is no other profession in this state that regularly requires a practitioner to decide between delivering the standard practice in their field and being charged with a crime. Doctors are some of the most highly trained and educated professionals in our state. We need to trust them.
Amber Nelson is executive director of the Idaho Coalition for Safe Healthcare.