Faced with abortion bans, doctors beg hospitals for help with key decisions

[Nevilledog]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/10/28/abortion-bans-medical-exceptions/

No paywall
https://archive.ph/mpoUl

Amelia Huntsberger pulled up a list of the top administrators at her northern Idaho hospital, anxious last fall to confirm she could treat a patient with a potentially life-threatening pregnancy complication.

But it was a Friday afternoon — and no one was picking up.

Huntsberger said she called six administrators before she finally got ahold of someone, her patient awaiting help a few rooms away. When she asked whether she could terminate a pregnancy under Idaho’s new abortion ban — which allows doctors to perform an abortion only if they deem it “necessary to prevent the death of the pregnant woman” — the OB/GYN said the decision was punted back to her.

“You know the laws, Amelia,” Huntsberger recalled the administrator saying. “You know what to do.”

If she made the wrong decision, the doctor knew she could face up to five years in prison.

*snip*