In the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2022 decision to overturn Roe versus Wade, Idaho’s strict abortion trigger law took effect, allowing abortion only in cases where the mother’s life is at risk or in instances of rape or incest with a documented police report.
Now a recent study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association has found a dramatic shift in our state’s medical landscape.
Between August 2022 and December 2024, Idaho lost 35% of its OBGYN physicians who practiced obstetrics. That’s nearly one in three doctors who delivered babies either leaving the state, retiring, or stopping obstetrics care altogether.
And with Idaho already ranking among the lowest in the nation for OBGYNs per capita, this raises major concerns about access to maternity care, especially in the more rural areas of Idaho.
Amber Nelson, executive director of the Idaho Coalition for Safe Healthcare, and McKay Cunningham, graduate professor and director of the Master of Applied Public Policy at the College of Idaho, joined Idaho Matters to talk more about this issue.
