Opinion: Politics Have Made Idaho Childbirth Insanely Alarming

Childbirth has become a much riskier endeavor in the Gem State in the past year. Laws have been passed in the state recently that have resulted in expecting mothers having to go to great lengths to assure they will be able to safely and comfortably deliver their babies into this world.

If I were an expecting mom in Idaho right now, I'd be frightened quite frankly. Forget about the subject of abortion and the legalities doctors face in the Gem State for assisting a mother in the process of terminating a pregnancy in extreme cases where contraception failed or a woman was impregnated by force from a stranger. I'm addressing the problem of hospitals closing birth centers and putting babies and mothers at very serious risk.

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Doctors in Idaho are blaming politicians, and politicians in Idaho are blaming doctors. It's an absolute mess right now. Bonner General Health is the latest facility in Idaho to cease planned deliveries after May 19 of this year. This means that God forbid if a northern Idaho mother has a complication in the days or weeks leading up to a planned birth, a 50-mile drive or more to the nearest hospital might be the only possible course of action.

These actions are putting the lives of babies and mothers at risk. Of course, it's not just Idaho that is facing these types of health dilemmas from hospitals nixing child deliveries.

A recent March of Dimes study found that an estimated 6.9 million women in the country are living in counties with insufficient access to maternity care. These types of problems are impacting Republican states more so than blue states, according to the data. You do the math.