Impact of anti-abortion laws on health care for pregnant women

2023-06-13 17:33:23, Kosova & Bota CNA

In the United States, women's access to abortion centers depends on the state in which they live. The state of Idaho has some of the strictest anti-abortion laws, which can have an impact on pregnant women.

Rhianna Olds is facing a high-risk pregnancy. She is in her eighth month and had her check-ups at a local specialist, until the termination of services for pregnant women from the hospital, which cites the lack of staff and what she calls "a bad legal and political climate" in Ajdëho. .

"A month before the birth I was told, 'We're closing this service at the hospital.' So we didn't know what to do," she says.

Following a U.S. Supreme Court ruling last year that ended federal legal protections for abortion rights, Idaho enacted some of the toughest abortion restrictions in the country, under which doctors can face up to five years in prison for termination of pregnancy, with the exception of cases of rape, incest and those when the mother's life is in danger. Dr. John Werdel is director of women's health at St. John's Medical Center. Luke's Boise.

"Nurses, anesthesiologists and pharmacists are scared. Doctors are waiting. They contact their lawyers. "We've probably all contacted lawyers more in the last eight months than at any other time in our careers," he says.

No medical center in Idaho has been prosecuted under the new law, but Mr. Werdel says the perceived risk of that possibility is real.

"Fear in the decision-making process in medicine can cause problems. I think that in the end, it is really important that in difficult moments the doctor focuses on the patient's health. It would not be good for doctors to focus on the risks for themselves", he says.

Idaho state Sen. Ben Adams supports abortion restrictions and is skeptical of their link to cuts to hospital birth services.

"Sometimes people see an issue they don't like and raise their voice against it and use it for their own purposes because they think that's how the world works," he says.

Mr. Adams says lawmakers are balancing a healthy environment for medical personnel without giving up what he says are constituent principles.

"Whenever there is a change in the law, there are also reactions. That doesn't mean you shouldn't change it. We want to protect the lives of unborn babies in the state of Idaho," he says.

Rhianna Olds now has to travel a distance of 90 kilometers to the nearest hospital that offers birthing services.

She says she is worried about women in her state.