Dr. Pennings’ Story
Dr. Jeff Pennings had spent years caring for pregnant patients in Idaho. He knew that even a healthy pregnancy could change without warning. But after Idaho’s abortion laws changed, that medical knowledge followed him home.
Pennings and his wife had struggled with infertility before welcoming their first child through IVF. When they prepared for a second pregnancy, Pennings remembers feeling something he had never expected: fear.
“I just remember, as a husband, being concerned about my wife getting pregnant in Idaho,” he said.
“I just remember, as a husband, being concerned about my wife getting pregnant in Idaho”
Their IVF transfer was successful. Early ultrasounds looked normal. Genetic screening was reassuring. They excitedly shared the news with their young son. Then, at a nine-week ultrasound, Doctors discovered a cystic hygroma, a fluid-filled area that can sometimes resolve but can also be associated with serious fetal abnormalities. Suddenly, a pregnancy that had appeared healthy became high-risk. For the next month, Jeff and his wife waited.
“It was just about the worst month of our lives,” he said. “It was like this cloud kind of fell over our household.”
As physicians, they read medical research and understood the possibilities. As parents, they worried about their baby. And Jeff worried about his wife.
Their story ultimately had a happy outcome. The abnormality resolved and their pregnancy continued. But the experience left Pennings thinking about families whose complications do not resolve—and about the additional uncertainty Idaho’s laws can introduce when something goes wrong.
“Even a low-risk pregnancy is low-risk until it’s not. And that change can happen very, very suddenly.”
Pennings had seen that reality professionally, too. For nine years, he practiced full-spectrum family medicine in Idaho, including prenatal care and deliveries. After Idaho’s abortion ban took effect, he said routine situations such as miscarriage management became more complicated as physicians worked to understand what care could legally be provided and when.
He describes patients waiting for additional confirmation of a pregnancy loss, physicians navigating legal uncertainty during emergencies, and communities struggling to retain doctors who provide maternity care.
“Even a low-risk pregnancy is low-risk until it’s not. And that change can happen very, very suddenly.”
For Pennings, the issue is no longer something he understands only through medicine.
He thinks about his wife. He thinks about the daughter they now have. And he thinks about what it means for any Idaho family to enter a pregnancy without knowing whether an unexpected complication could change everything.
“Patients need to be able to trust in their physicians to provide the care that they need,” he said. “Husbands need to feel like their wives are safe when they’re pregnant.”
