On Tuesday, the New York Times (Lean Left bias) published a deep-dive into the world of women’s health care in Idaho alleging that it has become “increasingly dangerous” since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022.
When Roe was overturned, Idaho imposed both a ban on almost all abortions and criminalized the act of providing an abortion, which allows medical providers to be jailed for up to two years and sued if they are found guilty of providing or assisting the termination of a pregnancy.
The Times cited a study which found that Idaho lost more than one-third of its OB-GYNs since Roe was overturned. In response to these dropping numbers of women’s health practitioners, the Times concluded, “By banning abortion, Idaho has become a more dangerous place to give birth.”
Are OB-GYNs really fleeing states with strict abortion laws at higher rates than average? Is Idaho the only state with a shortage of women’s healthcare providers? Or is this a media narrative used to push a particular agenda?
Analyzing the Numbers: Idaho Lost Significant Healthcare Providers
The Times cited the study “Change in Number of OB/GYN Physicians Practicing Obstetrics After the Dobbs Decision,” which was conducted by three medical professionals affiliated with Boise State University, the Ada County Medical Society, and St. Luke’s Health Plan, an insurance provider based in Boise, Idaho. Based on this study, the Times’ claims about a shortage of women’s health care in the state are true–the number of OB-GYNs in the state has been steadily declining over the past two years.
The study “assessed changes in the number of obstetrics and gynecology (OB/GYN) physicians practicing obstetrics in Idaho following implementation” of laws criminalizing abortion services. The study found that of the 268 OB-GYNs the state began with in the summer of 2022–before Roe was overturned—114 either stopped practicing obstetrics, left the state, closed their practices within the state, or retired. With only 20 new OB-GYNs moving into the state, Idaho lost a net 94–or 35%–of its OB-GYNs in the first two years after Roe.
However, Idaho is not the only state with a shortage of women’s healthcare providers, and national studies have not shown a larger pattern of providers fleeing states with strict abortion bans.
Nationally, OB-GYNs Remained Steady in States With Abortion Bans
In April 2025, CNN (Lean Left) reported on the question of whether or not women’s health care providers are disproportionately leaving states that threaten or ban abortions. It found that though doctors “have been confronted with new restrictions and uncertainties” and sometimes “significant legal risks” in states like Idaho that criminalize abortions, OB-GYNs did not, as a statistical pattern, flee these states.
CNN cited a national study conducted by researchers affiliated with UC Berkeley, Stanford University, University of Pittsburgh, Hunter College, and Middlebury College. The study looked at OB-GYN practice locations in the US from 2018 to 2024, differentiating states based on their abortion policies.
It found that there was not a significant difference in OB-GYNs across different policy environments–the presence of OB-GYNs increased by 8.3% in states where abortion is banned, 10.5% in states where it is threatened, and 7.7% in states where it is protected after Roe was overturned.
CNN noted that providers’ decisions “were highly personal and often required heavy moral calculations,” and included quotes from providers in Tennessee who chose to remain in the state after abortion was banned and from a provider who chose to leave out of fear of being targeted by the strict laws.
What Other States Face Maternity-Care Shortages?
Some parts of the country, particularly rural areas, face OB-GYN shortages regardless of abortion policies.
Pennsylvania, for instance, allows abortions up to 24 weeks into a pregnancy. However, CBS 21 (unrated), a local Pennsylvania outlet, reported in early October that 38 labor and delivery units have closed in the state over the past 20 years.
According to the Center for Rural Pennsylvania, 23 of the state’s 67 counties do not have a hospital with a labor and delivery unit, meaning that women giving birth in those counties would have to travel out of the county, often a great distance, to give birth in a hospital. These circumstances are similar to those in Idaho–yet Pennsylvania does not criminalize abortion.
On a broader scale, March of Dimes, a nonprofit “fighting for the health of all moms and babies,” found that 34.6% of US counties are maternity care deserts and that 58% percent of rural counties lack obstetric clinicians, compared to only 19% of urban counties.
So why is there a shortage of OB-GYNs?
CBS 21 reported that labor and delivery units in Pennsylvania have closed due to fluctuating patient volume, the high cost of staff and resources, a shortage of health care workers in general, and changes in hospital systems that lead to consolidation. Many of these reasons likely apply to hospitals and providers in other rural areas of the country.
Studies so far have not established that abortion bans have no effect on clinical practice, particular specialties, or individual communities. Abortion bans add documented pressures and concerns to women’s healthcare providers, and some doctors have left states because of them.
However, studies do not suggest that a broad, disproportionate exodus from states that threaten abortion has occurred.
Was the New York Times Telling the Truth?
A shortage of OB-GYNs is a problem that women in Idaho (and several other states) face, and one that should be taken seriously. Shortages of women’s healthcare providers are a longstanding national problem, particularly in rural areas, that exist in states with strict abortion laws and states without them.
The Times was accurate to say that the number of OB-GYNs has decreased significantly since Roe v. Wade was overturned. However, it is not accurate to say that the decrease is directly related to the state’s abortion laws. It also is inaccurate to take Idaho’s reported experience and extrapolate it nationally–what one state experienced after Roe v. Wade might not reflect a larger pattern in the country.
Of course, access to safe, reliable medical care is an issue that many people across the political spectrum care about and hope to solve. However, when reading media narratives that could spark fear or spin a certain narrative, it’s important to dig into the numbers and think critically about what they do–and don’t–actually show us.
Written by Emily Allen, Education Experience Manager. She has a Left bias. Reviewed by News and Bias Assistants Jessica Carpenter (Center) and Johnathon Held (Lean Right).
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