‘It’s demoralizing’: Idaho abortion ban takes toll on medical providers

State's OB-GYN numbers are dwindling in the face of a legal onslaught amid fears that patients will be unable to access care

Most mornings Dr Stacy Seyb is awake by 6am. He begins his day with meetings before a packed schedule seeing 18-20 patients going through high-risk pregnancies in Boise, Idaho. He has had a long career of treating people with all sorts of obstetrical complications so he's used to stress. But it's never been like this.

Now that federal protections for abortion have been gone for more than a year and Idaho is approaching the anniversary of its near-total abortion ban, the state has seen an exodus of OB-GYNs and other medical providers, leaving Seyb as one of the last remaining maternal-fetal medicine physicians in his state.