Kate Campbell: On the worst day of our lives, Idaho politicians made it harder

By Kate Campbell

When we found out we were expecting, we did what so many parents do. We thought about names, we dreamed about who our baby might become, and we started preparing our home for the little boy we were so eager to meet.

At 20 weeks, we walked into a routine exam and our lives changed forever. We discovered that my body had begun moving toward labor far too early. It wasn’t anyone’s fault, it was simply my body’s way of protecting itself from something that was going wrong.

Our doctors compassionately explained that the recommended course of action to preserve my future fertility, and perhaps my life, was to deliver early. It was a terrible diagnosis knowing that Remi – the name we’d chosen for our son – would not be able to survive.

In most places, and even in Idaho just a few years ago, that heartbreaking decision would have stayed between us, our family and our doctors. The anxiety of making life-changing decisions would have been eased slightly by grieving quietly in our room or even going home to process together.

But in Idaho, a new abortion ban criminalizes doctors for providing care in situations like mine. Instead of being able to deliver the treatment they recommended, they worked rapidly to organize a way for me to fly to a hospital out of state.

I was thunder jacketed into a gurney and rolled onto a plane – terrified of what could happen along the journey or before my husband arrived to meet me in Salt Lake. The compassion from the medical team is something I’ll never forget. Staff lined the hallway, holding out their hands and whispering encouragement as I passed, knowing it was likely one of the scariest and most emotional days of my life.

The worst day of our lives was made even harder because politicians inserted themselves into what should have been a private moment of grief and personal decision-making for our family. No family should ever have to choose between waiting until it’s almost too late.

After losing Remi, we tried to make sense of what happened. We met with lawmakers, hoping to explain the real, unintended repercussions of Idaho’s abortion ban. Instead, we were told our experiences weren’t real. To have lived through such trauma and then be dismissed by those in power – by those who are here to serve the people of Idaho – it was devastating. But it also made one thing clear: Our politicians aren’t listening to Idaho families.

Before this experience, we had no idea the degree to which Idaho’s current abortion ban prevents doctors from providing the care their patients need. But our current law clearly criminalizes care. That moment of crisis can affect anyone at any time. And I hope no one else is caught unaware.

To honor Remi’s memory, we took our grief and turned it to action. Since lawmakers refused to listen, we got involved with Idahoans United for Women & Families. They are using the citizen-led ballot initiative process to write our own law, restoring us to the standard of reproductive healthcare access Idahoans had for nearly 50 years.

If, like us, you believe that personal, private medical decisions should be left between a woman, her family, and her doctor, we invite you to sign the petition to place the Reproductive Freedom and Privacy Act on the ballot.

Thanks to the rapid response of the St. Luke’s team, my fertility was preserved. Because of that, we recently welcomed a baby girl to our family. We dream of her future and all that she’ll become. We dream of an Idaho that considers her – that values her health and her life. We want her to grow up in a state where she can build a family on her own terms, with safety and dignity. That’s the Idaho we’re fighting for. And we hope you’ll join us.

Kate Campbell is a wife and mother living in Idaho. She and her family are active supporters of Idahoans United for Women and Families and the Reproductive Freedom and Privacy Act.