{"id":287921,"date":"2023-03-24T19:46:35","date_gmt":"2023-03-25T00:46:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.liveaction.org\/news\/?p=287921"},"modified":"2023-04-01T16:33:46","modified_gmt":"2023-04-01T21:33:46","slug":"pro-life-idaho-hospital-labor-delivery-closure","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/pro-life-idaho-hospital-labor-delivery-closure\/","title":{"rendered":"Are pro-life laws to blame for Idaho hospital’s labor and delivery department closure?"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Bonner General Health in Sandpoint, Idaho, announced that it will shut down its labor and delivery department \u2014\u00a0something both the hospital and media coverage are attempting to attribute to Idaho\u2019s pro-life laws despite various factors contributing to the decision.<\/span><\/p>\n

On March 17, Bonner General Health (BGH) released a statement on <\/span>Facebook<\/span><\/a> announcing the upcoming closure of its labor and delivery department in May. The statement gave a variety of reasons for its closure, including that \u201chighly respected, talented physicians\u201d are leaving the state due to pro-life protections passed by the Idaho Legislature, which the hospital claimed makes attracting physicians more difficult due to laws that they claim \u201ccriminalize physicians for medical care nationally recognized as the standard of care.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Idaho\u2019s pro-life laws went into effect in January after the Idaho Supreme Court ruled against Planned Parenthood in a protracted legal battle, as Live Action News <\/span>reported<\/span><\/a>. The laws \u2013 which had been blocked for several years during litigation \u2013 include protections for nearly all preborn babies in the state from abortion, a heartbeat law, and a law that allows family members of a preborn child to sue for damages after an abortion.<\/span><\/p>\n

Induced abortion is the\u00a0<\/span>direct and intentional killing<\/span><\/a> of a preborn baby and <\/span>does not constitute health care<\/span><\/a>,\u00a0<\/span>nor is it medically necessary<\/span><\/a>),\u00a0nor does it apply to treatment for miscarriages or ectopic pregnancies. Yet, a number of <\/span>local<\/span><\/a>, <\/span>national<\/span><\/a>, and even <\/span>international<\/span><\/a> news outlets attributed the restriction of abortion as a main contributing factor to the hospital department\u2019s closure. Yet as Live Action News has reported, most OBGYNs <\/span>do not commit abortions<\/span><\/a>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n