Women suing over Idaho’s abortion ban describe dangerous pregnancies, becoming ‘medical refugees’

Four women suing over Idaho’s strict abortion bans told a judge Tuesday how excitement over their pregnancies turned to grief and fear after they learned their fetuses were not likely to survive to birth — and how they had to leave the state to get abortions amid fears that pregnancy complications would put their own health in danger.

Four women suing over Idaho’s strict abortion bans told a judge Tuesday how excitement over their pregnancies turned to grief and fear after they learned their fetuses were not likely to survive to birth — and how they had to leave the state to get abortions amid fears that pregnancy complications would put their own health in danger. “We felt like we were being made refugees, medical refugees,” said Jennifer Adkins, one of the plaintiffs in the case. The women, represented by the Center for Reproductive Rights, aren’t asking for the state’s abortion ban to be overturned. Instead, they want the judge to clarify and expand the exceptions to the strict ban so that people facing serious pregnancy complications can receive abortions before they are at death’s door. Currently, the state’s near-total ban makes performing an abortion a felony at any stage of pregnancy unless it is “necessary to prevent the death of the pregnant woman.” Adkins’ fetus had a severe medical condition that meant it would not survive the pregnancy. The illness also put Adkins at risk of developing “mirror syndrome,” a dangerous syndrome that can cause fatally high blood pressure and other issues, she said. Adkins and her husband decided to seek an abortion and learned they would have to go out of state to get one after another ultrasound showed the fetus still had a heartbeat.