Lawmakers are elected to serve the people of Idaho by the people of Idaho. Any Idahoan who approaches our elected leaders with concerns should be treated with dignity and respect. Sadly, we saw an utter breakdown of this basic decency during a recent legislative panel at the College of Eastern Idaho.

Dr. Jennifer Cook, one of the state’s leading medical educators, tried to explain to lawmakers the harm caused to Idaho patients by the state’s extreme abortion bans. She shared a harrowing account of a pregnant woman, with a pre-viability fetus, who began bleeding uncontrollably. But doctors couldn’t intervene until she was at the brink of death because Idaho law tied their hands.

As she spoke, Republican Rep. Josh Tanner turned to Rep. Dustin Manwaring and sneered, “That’s not true,” for the audience to hear. When Dr. Cook acknowledged that some committee members were rolling their eyes, Tanner scoffed. A life-threatening emergency was met with open disdain.

That moment wasn’t just disrespectful, it was a window into how the Republican supermajority governs: with disregard for the harm they cause and no intention of changing course.

Since the bans took effect in 2022, Idaho has lost nearly one in four OB-GYNs and six of its initial nine maternal-fetal medicine specialists. Hospitals in Sandpoint, Emmett, and Caldwell have closed their maternity wards. Specialists are leaving. Today, 22 out of 44 counties in Idaho have no OB-GYNs. Idaho ranks last in the nation for physicians per capita. When politics drives doctors out, it’s our families who pay the price in longer waits, fewer options, and higher risks.

Worse, they’re also sabotaging the training pipeline that could help replace them. Most Republicans voted against the Idaho Launch program, which trains students for in-demand fields like health care. Most also opposed an incentive program to increase nursing capacity in rural communities. These initiatives only exist because every single Democrat voted for them.

This year, the attacks escalated. Rep. Manwaring, the same lawmaker complicit in the public ridicule of Dr. Cook, introduced legislation to end Idaho’s long-standing partnership with the University of Washington’s WWAMI program. For decades, WWAMI has trained Idaho students to become doctors who serve their home communities. Manwaring’s rationale? He feared medical students might learn about abortion care.

That’s just part of the hypocrisy of their extreme abortion ban. They falsely claim abortion care is legal in every emergency, while blocking training in this lifesaving, fertility-preserving care.

We can elect leaders who respect doctors, protect patients, and understand that deeply personal medical decisions should never be dictated by politicians. Next year, voters will have the chance to hold those responsible for this crisis accountable.

Idaho deserves better. Our lives depend on it. 

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Lauren Necochea
Idaho Democratic Party Chair