Idaho Attorney General Labrador shows his ignorance about abortion | Opinion

Abortion

I read the editorial by Raul Labrabor and felt compelled to reply. As an “Idahoan” born and raised in Idaho Falls (1975 graduate of Skyline High School) I completed 12 years of medical training to become a board-certified Pediatrician and Pediatric Intensive Care Anesthesiologist.

You mention sepsis (uncontrolled infection) as a life-threatening condition that Idaho physicians should treat with abortion if necessary to save the woman’s life.

Let me paint a picture of how this looks in the real world.

Physicians will recognize the constellation of symptoms, images and labs showing the woman “at risk” for developing sepsis. Your law states abortion is allowed only when the life is threatened. Best medical practice suggests treating the “at-risk” patient before the onset of sepsis.

If the physician uses their best judgment and aborts before sepsis onset, your law allows their prosecution and imprisonment for following best practice.

I can envision the uncertainties the Idaho physicians face having seen similar uncertainties, but I have never been confronted by laws that precluded me from using my best judgment. This is what medicine is like in Idaho.

I implore politicians to leave these difficult decisions to professionals trained to support patients (i.e., doctor- patient relationship).

Lynn D. Martin, Bellevue, Washington

Vote

Early voting is underway in Idaho’s 2024 primary election which is most significant in a one-party state. The Republican primary winners will cruise to victory in most districts in November. While ideology plays an outsized role at the national level, the elections that matter most in our daily lives are at the state and local level. It is here that issues like the taxes we pay and the return we get for them are decided. We might look more closely at issues like school quality, traffic safety, availability of medical care or affordability of healthy food than what our neighbors read or who they love, and give less weight to soundbites intended to stir our emotions and distract us from attention to issues of our daily lives. How we vote will affect our lives going forward for many years. Ideology doesn’t put food on our tables or medicine on our shelves.

Phil Ehrnstein, Meridian

Manufacturing

Idaho is fortunate to have U.S. Sens. Jim Risch and Mike Crapo representing us. As our country faces unprecedented challenges, meeting market demands with local manufacturing growth is the best way to support Idaho jobs. They recognize today’s challenges and are preparing Idaho’s workforce and small businesses to compete.

They are fighting to increase our local manufacturing jobs at small aerospace suppliers developing advanced materials for new aircraft. North Idaho is at the forefront of these key technologies. Securing these Idaho jobs and making next generation aerospace parts requires new equipment and new industry-led technical education and training.

Several small manufacturers are part of the Regional Tech Hub plan to develop the next generation of lightweight aircraft, with global production demands expected to be 20 times the current domestic aerospace supply base. These efforts reflect a long-term vision to multiply our existing regional strengths. The Tech Hub testbed and training center is backed by a consortium of 50-plus members, including Boeing, Collins Aerospace, Toray, Spirit Aerosystems, Synesqo, Blue Origin, Lockheed Martin, ATC Manufacturing, NASA, among many others.

Jacob Bonwell, Hayden

Farmland

When certain developers, legislators or real estate agents are in the Canyon County boardroom, Commissioner VanBeek and Brooks’ decision-making is quite different. On April 17, the commissioners approved 27 acres of prime farmland from Agriculture to Rural-Residential into 12 residential lots stating that each land use application is unique and agricultural and non-agricultural uses may be compatible and can co-exist, and the use was compatible, citing other subdivisions in the area.

They did not address agricultural uses (including the exhibits from the farmers regarding the impacts), or that the land was prime farm ground.

The very next day, these same commissioners, overturned the development services director’s decision to allow an administrative land division on moderately suited soil, citing that:

• neighboring properties are raising crops and farm animals,

• to the farming community, the lots could be a public nuisance if they have to stop aerial spraying,

• it meets the definition of viable farm ground,

• there are no mitigating conditions to protect current landowners and farms, and

• “we need to protect the area.”

So which one is it? Are we protecting farmland or not? I guess it depends on who is in the room and who paid for the application.

John Hoadley, Caldwell

Trump

Open letter to Sens. Mike Crapo and Jim Risch and Reps. Mike Simpson and Russ Fulcher:

I expect you feel that you’re generally serving in the interests of your country. But when you don’t speak out when the future of our republic is undermined, you demonstrate your apparent acquiescence to the forces that are threatening our democracy. If you don’t speak out against the threat to the rule of law in this country, you hasten its demise. From little things, like Donald Trump’s defiance of Judge Merchan’s gag orders in the current hush money trial, to the big ones, like your party’s general refusal to accept the results of the last presidential election and the apparent intent to do the same in the upcoming one, you are defying the rule of law and are acting exactly the way that Vladimir Putin would hope you’d behave. You’re aiding in the general tendency of the Republican Party in its drift toward authoritarian rule. Wake up and take a stand against the threat to our democracy.

Walt Thode, Boise

Simpson

Poor deluded Mike Simpson. Instead of voting for a bipartisan border deal in December he now is screaming bloody murder, invasions, fentanyl, etc. and claiming that Trump will fix it all after he’s elected. So, we could have had a solution which was bipartisan and it could have been in place but we have to wait until or even if Trump is reelected and installed and then maybe get something passed that would take effect sometime next year? Sure seems stupid to me.

Cathy Parsons, Nampa