“I would hate to think that St. Luke’s or any other hospital is trying to do something like this just to make a political statement, which I think is actually dangerous,” Labrador said.

In a written statement to the Statesman, St. Luke’s spokesperson Christine Myron said the hospital system stands by Souza’s statements.

“We do not have any way of knowing who Attorney General Labrador spoke to related to out-of-state patient transfers for pregnancy complications, but what we can share with confidence is our data,” Myron said. “During the time that Idaho has not had EMTALA protections for pregnancy complications, six pregnant patients in St. Luke’s care required out-of-state air transport from the emergency department to protect their health and prevent material deterioration and/or loss of organ function, not to prevent death.”

Labrador also pointed to statements made by the Idaho Medical Association and blamed them for confusing the public. Idaho Medical Association CEO Susie Keller has said that abortion laws make it challenging for doctors to care for pregnant women with complications, and that the state is unfortunately “digging itself into a workforce hole that will take many years, if not decades, to fill.”

“This is something they’re doing on purpose, and they’re doing it for a political purpose,” Labrador said.

Keller in a statement said Idaho law should be changed to clearly reflect the attorney general’s claims that doctors will not be prosecuted for acting to preserve a pregnant woman’s health in an emergency. She invited Labrador to work with the association to fine-tune the law.

“I know dozens of Idaho physicians who would be happy to sit down with AG Labrador to share their experiences with him and have a collaborative discussion about how to improve our legal environment for Idaho moms and dads who are trying to start or grow their families,” Keller said.

I believe doctors, Idaho lawmaker says

Idaho Senate and House minority leaders Melissa Wintrow and Ilana Rubel, both Boise Democrats, were also in Washington, D.C., for the hearing. They said Labrador’s take on doctors’ experiences was “gaslighting” and ignored the reality of the situation in Idaho.

“I understand it is an inconvenient truth for them, that the law that they passed and that they supported has had catastrophic fallout,” Rubel told the Idaho Statesman. “And I understand that it’s easier to simply deny the facts than to confront that what they did was very, very bad and very harmful to the people of Idaho.”

Wintrow emphasized that she believes the doctors — including the nearly 700 physicians who are members of the Idaho Coalition for Safe Healthcare — who have spoken out about their struggles with the law. She said she was “speechless” at Labrador’s implication that physicians and hospitals have been dishonest.

“They’re working as hard as they can to make sure their patients are safe, and to call them into question is just a specter to divert attention,” she said.

Wintrow and Rubel also pushed back against Labrador’s claim that Idaho law is clear on when abortion is permitted. The legislators said the law leaves room for doctors to worry that their licenses will be revoked or they will face prison time if they perform abortions. Wintrow said that uncertainty is directly responsible for the state’s recent loss of 22% of its OB-GYNs.

“Why are physicians leaving the state?” Wintrow said. “Because they are afraid of a rabid attorney general who wants to take them to jail.”

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