Not so long ago, Bonner General Health, the hospital in Sandpoint, Idaho, had four OB/GYNs on staff, who treated patients from multiple rural counties.
That was before Idaho鈥檚 near-total abortion ban went into effect almost two years ago, criminalizing most abortions. All four of Bonner鈥檚 OB/GYNs聽left by last summer, some citing fears that the state鈥檚 ban exposed them to legal peril for doing their jobs.
The exodus forced Bonner General to shutter its labor and delivery unit and sent patients scrambling to seek new providers more than 40 miles away in Coeur d鈥橝lene or Post Falls, or across the state border to Spokane, Wash.聽It has made Sandpoint a 鈥渄ouble desert,鈥 meaning it lacks access to both maternity care and abortion services.
One patient, Jonell Anderson, was referred to an OB-GYN in Coeur d鈥橝lene, roughly an hour鈥檚 drive from Sandpoint, after an ultrasound showed a mass growing in her uterus. Anderson made multiple trips to the out-of-town provider. Previously, she would have found that care close to home.
The experience isn鈥檛 limited to this small Idaho town.
A 2023 analysis听产测听ABC News聽补苍诲听Boston Children鈥檚 Hospital聽found that more than聽1.7 million聽women of reproductive age in the United States live in a 鈥渄ouble desert.鈥 About聽3.7 million聽women live in counties with no access to abortion and little to no maternity care.
Texas, Mississippi and Kentucky have the highest numbers of women of reproductive age living in double deserts, according to the analysis.
Amelia Huntsberger, one of the OB/GYNs who chose to leave Sandpoint 鈥 despite having practiced there for a decade 鈥 did so because she felt she couldn鈥檛 provide the care her patients needed under a law as strict as Idaho鈥檚.
The growing provider shortages in rural states affect not only pregnant and postpartum women, but all women, said Usha Ranji, an associate director for Women鈥檚 Health Policy at 麻豆女优, a health information nonprofit that includes 麻豆女优 Health News.
鈥淧regnancy is obviously a very intense period of focus, but people need access to this care before, during and after, and outside of pregnancy,鈥 Ranji said.
The problem is expected to worsen.
In Idaho, the number of applicants to fill spots left by departing doctors has 鈥渁bsolutely plummeted,鈥 said聽Susie Keller, CEO of the聽Idaho Medical Association.
鈥淲e are witnessing the dismantling of our health system,鈥 she said.
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