Date: October 20th, 2026 8:34 AM Author: Bespoke gas station
I followed several doctors who stayed. They say women’s health care — from childbirth to miscarriages — is now more dangerous.
Women travel hours to deliver babies, wait months for hysterectomies and suffer prolonged miscarriages. One hospitalized woman whose fetus had died wept for days, waiting for medication to work.
The OB-GYNs who’ve left — one third of those in the state — are unlikely to return. For the doctors who remain, the work is relentless. Some physicians described being in “moral distress.”
A proposition to restore abortion rights is on the ballot next month, with doctors campaigning in support. But even if it passes, the state’s Republican-controlled legislature could overturn it.
Some describe the exodus of the state’s OB-GYNs as a generational loss. As I visited hospitals and doctor’s offices, the toll on physicians and patients was clear.