What Will It Take to Win Against Extremism in Idaho?

“I support my colleagues who are leaving Idaho,” said Penny Beach, a family medicine physician in Boise whose practice includes obstetrics. “It’s very difficult to practice in a state when all of a sudden what you provided yesterday as routine, good, standard-of-care medicine today will get you thrown in jail for five years and your medical license revoked. It does not feel good to be labeled a felon. It does not feel good to be told that you are the problem, that you should not be afraid to do medically necessary abortions regardless of the fact that doing so could cause you to lose your career, your freedom, and your income. It does not feel good to study for years and then be told that no one cares about the nuances of your medical knowledge. And most of all, it does not feel good to see your patients suffer needlessly.”

So far, Beach has chosen to stay put because she loves her job and her community. But “I think about leaving or retiring early all the time,” she said. Many Idahoans are still unaware of the abortion bans, she added. “Patients who are carrying babies with a lethal fetal anomaly are often stunned when they are told they have to go out of state to have an abortion,” she said. Others do know, and are terrified.