Idaho
Loss of federal protection in Idaho spurs pregnant patients to plan for emergency air transport • Iowa Capital Dispatch
Since the U.S. Supreme Court decided in January to consider a case about whether a federal law regarding emergency medical treatment supersedes an abortion ban in Idaho, air transports out of state for pregnancy complications at one of the state’s largest hospitals have increased from one in all of 2023 to six in the past four months.
St. Luke’s Chief Medical Officer Dr. Jim Souza said if that pace continues, that number could be 20 patients before the year is over.
“We have limited resources in terms of helicopters, fixed-wing transports and ambulances. If we occupy an air transport with a patient who could completely receive the totality of her care right here, safely, it’s potentially dangerous for other patients,” Souza said.
Idaho’s abortion ban went into effect in August 2022, a few months after the U.S. Supreme Court issued its Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision that overturned Roe v. Wade, ending federal protection for abortion access and allowing states to regulate it instead.
That rise has prompted some Idaho physicians to advise their pregnant patients, or those trying to become pregnant, to purchase memberships with companies like Life Flight Network or Air St. Luke’s in the Boise area to avoid potentially significant costs if they need air transport in an emergency. With or without private insurance, the cost can be thousands of dollars.
“The thought of this becoming the new normal — I don’t want it to be the new normal,” said Blaine Patterson, director of the Air St. Luke’s program, which reported the recent increase in transports by air.
The court will hear oral arguments Wednesday over whether the near-total abortion ban means doctors who may need to terminate a pregnancy to stabilize a patient in a health emergency will have to continue to transfer patients out of state or risk jail time and the loss of their medical license. The U.S. Department of Justice sued Idaho in 2022 over the ban, saying it violated the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act, or EMTALA, which mandates that Medicare-funded hospitals provide stabilizing care for patients who come to an emergency room regardless of their ability to pay.
In a brief submitted to the court leading up to oral arguments, the Department of Justice cited States Newsroom’s reporting from January that without EMTALA protection in place, doctors said they would have to transfer more patients out of state for abortion care rather than wait for conditions to become life-threatening.
A pregnant patient might come to the ER for a variety of reasons, including high blood pressure, bleeding, or one of the most common occurrences, when the patient’s water breaks before a fetus can live outside of the womb, even with medical intervention. It happened 54 times at St. Luke’s Boise in 2023, or about once a week — though not all of those cases occur before a fetus is viable, which is generally considered to be about 22 weeks of gestation.
After the water breaks, there is often still a fetal heartbeat, even though the fetus ultimately won’t survive without amniotic fluid. And in the meantime, infection can quickly spread throughout the body and turn septic, which is life threatening, or it can lead to hemorrhage. Without the ban in place, a doctor would likely recommend termination of the pregnancy to avoid further complications.
But with the ban, maternal-fetal medicine specialists like Dr. Stacy Seyb of Boise aren’t taking any chances by trying to wait until the law’s exception for saving the patient’s life might apply. If termination needs to be considered, he said it’s better in his judgment to send someone to a facility out of state that can freely offer termination before it’s too late. The longer an infection or other complication persists, the greater risk it poses to a patient’s health and ability to get pregnant again in the future.
“And there are times they may not even need the procedure. But we can’t predict that, and we can’t predict how quickly their status might change,” Seyb said. “I think it’s a great hardship, it’s an extra expense to our medical system, and it doesn’t make sense why something that I’ve been doing for 30 years of my career is now taboo.”
Transport has financial, emotional and potentially physical costs
In a brief filed earlier this month by the Alliance Defending Freedom, a religious conservative law firm that has argued several abortion-related cases before the U.S. Supreme Court, including the Dobbs decision, attorneys argued on behalf of Idaho that transport out of state for an emergency termination is in line with EMTALA’s requirements.
“If state law allows a doctor to provide a particular treatment, then that service is available at a hospital for EMTALA purposes. But if state law prohibits a particular treatment, then the facility cannot provide it to anyone, no matter the circumstances,” the attorneys wrote.
Typically, only one support person at most can accompany a patient during air transport. That often means other family members must drive hours away from home in this region of the country, and find a place to stay. Seattle or Portland are seven to eight hours away, while Salt Lake City is about a five-hour drive from Boise. Utah has an 18-week abortion ban with an exception to preserve a pregnant patient’s health.
“It’s tough enough losing a pregnancy, but then to go through this in a foreign land,” Seyb said. “I feel very bad for these patients.”
There are also some patients who simply go home and wait it out, he said, because they don’t have the money or resources for air transport. Those patients may end up back at the emergency room later in worse condition.
According to the National Association of Insurance Commissioners, the average cost of these flights is between $12,000 and $25,000 before insurance is applied, based on an average 52-mile distance. Salt Lake City is almost 340 miles from Boise. Depending on the patient’s insurance plan details, 20% of that cost could still fall to them to pay out of pocket.
The median cost calculated by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services is even higher at $36,000 to $40,000.
Besides the emotional and financial toll, Seyb said, there are delays in care caused by first having to make the decision to transfer and decide where the patient should go, then prep the patient for transport and make the journey while hoping no complications occur en route.
The aircraft is equipped to try to handle those situations, but by definition, it is not as well-equipped as a hospital. The specialty care teams that have to ride along for those transports in case of complications are also tied up for many hours and therefore unavailable to other hospital patients who may need them.
There are also considerations around weather in a mountainous region, said Patterson. In a time-sensitive situation, if there is a severe storm or low visibility for other reasons, it will inevitably delay care further.
“If it’s below weather minimums, we aren’t going anywhere. And those apply to everybody,” Patterson said.
‘You should think about’ membership if pregnant in Idaho
Natalie Hannah, spokesperson for the Life Flight Network, said they have not seen an increase in transports for maternal complications, nor have they seen an increase in membership requests. Life Flight has a reciprocal agreement with Air St. Luke’s and many other regional medical facilities around the West, she said, so coverage would be widespread. A membership with Life Flight costs $85 for one year for a household, while Air St. Luke’s charges $60 for one year. A member is required to have private insurance to qualify.
Patterson said a membership with Air St. Luke’s will cover copays and deductibles, and while he might only have recommended it before for those who recreate outdoors in remote areas or who ride motorcycles, he now would advise people to add pregnancy to the list. Seyb agreed that it made sense as a precautionary measure.
“You should think about it,” Patterson said.
Jonathan Clavijo-Herrera was among the first scientists in Florida to successfully establish a high-density peach orchard, using trellises to train tree branches to grow on fruiting walls, which reduces labor while increasing yields.
Now Clavijo is poised to help University of Idaho blaze trails with its fruit-production research.
On March 2, 2026, Clavijo joined the U of I’s Parma Research and Extension Center as an assistant professor and Extension specialist in pomology. In his new role, Clavijo will conduct research benefiting Idaho’s fruit industry, with an emphasis on apples, cherries and peaches.
Clavijo was attracted to the job by the potential of the fruit industry in Idaho, the opportunity to research new types of fruit, the high quality of the laboratory facilities at Parma and the ample orchard space.
“I feel there’s a lot of support from the Parma station team,” Clavijo said. “I feel like there are a lot of opportunities here. There’s a lot of work to be done for sure in the orchard and the lab and everything, but I’m really encouraged by the support I’m receiving from the university, and the willingness of the growers to partner and collaborate is amazing.”
Originally from La Paz, Bolivia, Clavijo earned a bachelor’s degree in agricultural sciences and production from Zamorano University in Honduras. He continued his education at University of Florida (UF) in Gainesville, where he earned a master’s degree and a doctorate in horticultural sciences. Early on in his graduate studies, Clavijo completed an internship involving the use of LED lighting for the indoor production of leafy greens. He researched how to improve commercial production and water use efficiency in greens by manipulating the light spectrum.
As a master’s student, Clavijo studied the potential for a Florida olive industry.
“We evaluated three olive varieties in two locations to see how they would perform,” Clavijo said. “We also tested different strategies to establish those trees.”
Furthermore, Clavijo helped develop a tool to help olive farmers adjust their fertilization management practices under local growing conditions.
His doctoral dissertation entailed researching how a rootstock — the underground part of a plant onto which another variety is grafted — can affect the performance of the above-ground portion of a tree, known as the scion. He and his research team found that certain rootstocks improved the capacity of trees to uptake water and nutrients. The team also found that rootstocks can affect the expression of genes related to dormancy, which enables a tree to withstand winter temperatures while conserving energy for the growing season.
(TNS) — Sick of peeling that pesky tag off of your license plate every year?
A new Idaho law that goes into effect this summer ends the legal requirements for vehicle registration tags on motor vehicles.
However, you still need to update your tags — or risk getting a ticket.
Here’s what drivers to know:
DO I STILL NEED A VEHICLE REGISTRATION STICKER?
House Bill 533 eliminates the color-coded vehicle registration stickers Idaho drivers attach to their license plates, saving the Idaho Transportation Department an estimated $300,000 in production costs.
Idaho Gov. Brad Little signed HB 533 into law in early March.
Starting July 1, Idaho drivers will no longer be required to replace their sticker tags when renewing vehicle registrations.
The change comes as law enforcement agencies are relying more on automated technology.
Automated license plate readers “automatically capture images or videos” of a passing vehicle, then detect the license plate number and access all recorded information related to that vehicle, according to the Library of Congress.
That includes the vehicle’s registration, make, model and color as well as whether it’s on a so-called “hot list” identifying vehicles of interest to law enforcement, the Library of Congress said on its website.
HOW CAN I TELL IF MY VEHICLE REGISTRATION IS EXPIRING?
Vehicle registration provides proof that your car, pickup truck, SUV or motorcycle is “allowed to drive on Idaho roads,” according to the Idaho Department of Transportation .
That’s still the case even if you’re no longer to sport a sticker on your license plate.
“Nothing is changing for customers when it comes to renewing registration,” Britt Rosenthal, public information officer for the Idaho Division of Motor Vehicles, told the Idaho Statesman in an email. “The only update is that Idaho will stop mailing out physical registration stickers after July 1, 2026.”
The Idaho DMV notifies drivers by mail, text or email when their registration is about to expire, according to Rosenthal.
“Residents can also log into their portal at anytime to check vehicle renewal status,” Rosenthal said.
“You should renew your vehicle registration before it expires,” the DMV said. “If you renew your registration early, your new expiration date will not change. You cannot renew a registration that is suspended or revoked or is conditional for title.”
HOW MUCH CAN I BE FINED FOR EXPIRED TAGS?
If your vehicle is unregistered — or that registration has expired — an Idaho police officer can pull you over and give you a warning or a ticket, the Statesman reported previously.
The fines for unregistered vehicles and expired tags haven’t changed.
Having expired tags in Idaho is a traffic infraction punishable a $101 fine, according to the Idaho Supreme Court.
If you’re caught driving with fake registration or borrowing or stealing tags, you could pay a $115 fine, the Statesman previously reported. The true owner of the registration is at risk of being fined the same amount.
If you provide false information when you’re registering your vehicle, you could face a $156.50 fine. That includes giving a name that is not legally recognized by the state of Idaho.
HOW DO I REGISTER A VEHICLE IN IDAHO FOR THE FIRST TIME?
To register a vehicle for the first time, you must visit an Idaho Division of Motor Vehicles office in person.
In Boise, you can visit the state Division of Motor Vehicles office at 8655 West Franklin Road for new vehicle registration or registration renewal.
The DMV has office locations across the state that can assist with registration requests.
To register and title a vehicle in Idaho, you’ll need to provide the following:
- Your full legal name
- An Idaho driver’s license number, Idaho-issued ID card, Social Security number or employer identification number
- A verifiable physical address
- A verifiable mailing address
HOW DO I RENEW MY VEHICLE REGISTRATION IN IDAHO?
The Idaho Division of Motor Vehicles offers multiple options for drivers seeking to renew their registration, including an online portal that can be used with or without creating a personal account
You can also visit the DMV’s virtual Ada County office.
In addition, you can renew your vehicle registration by calling 208-584-4343, mailing a check money order to the DMV office that sent your renewal notice or visiting a DMV office in person.
Save time by scheduling an appointment in advance.
HOW MUCH DOES CAR REGISTRATION COST IN IDAHO?
Registration costs depend on the vehicle type, weight, age and inspection requirements, as well as the county where you live, according to the DMV.
Registration and renewal costs for noncommercial vehicles — those weighing 8,000 pounds or less — can range from $24 to $140 for a standard Idaho license plate.
Personalized and specialty license plates require an additional annual fee.
It can cost $73 to $337 to register a commercial vehicle weighing more than 8,000 pounds, with costs affected by weight.
You can use the Idaho DMV’s online calendar to calculate your registration fees.
©2026 The Idaho Statesman, Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
The results are in for the Idaho Lottery’s draw games on Sunday, May 3, 2026.
Here’s a look at winning numbers for each game on May 3.
Winning Pick 3 numbers from May 3 drawing
Day: 9-9-2
Night: 5-9-0
Check Pick 3 payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Pick 4 numbers from May 3 drawing
Day: 9-4-1-7
Night: 7-8-9-1
Check Pick 4 payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Idaho Cash numbers from May 3 drawing
05-14-16-26-40
Check Idaho Cash payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Millionaire for Life numbers from May 3 drawing
05-08-15-32-51, Bonus: 03
Check Millionaire for Life payouts and previous drawings here.
Feeling lucky? Explore the latest lottery news & results
When are the Idaho Lottery drawings held ?
- Powerball: 8:59 p.m. MT Monday, Wednesday and Saturday.
- Mega Millions: 9 p.m. MT on Tuesday and Friday.
- Pick 3: 1:59 p.m. (Day) and 7:59 p.m. (Night) MT daily.
- Pick 4: 1:59 p.m. (Day) and 7:59 p.m. (Night) MT daily.
- Lucky For Life: 8:35 p.m. MT Monday and Thursday.
- Lotto America: 9 p.m. MT on Monday, Wednesday and Saturday.
- 5 Star Draw: 8 p.m. MT on Tuesday and Friday.
- Idaho Cash: 8 p.m. MT daily.
- Millionaire for Life: 9:15 p.m. MT daily.
This results page was generated automatically using information from TinBu and a template written and reviewed by a USA Today editor. You can send feedback using this form.
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