The doctor who sued the couple was Roger Marshall, now a senator from Kansas. Marshall, a Republican who is seeking reelection this fall, filed lawsuits against more than 700 patients with outstanding bills during his decades-long career as an obstetrician-gynecologist, according to a New York Times analysis of Kansas court records. Patients were arrested in 81 of those cases for missing court dates, the record show. In an additional 13 lawsuits, Marshall’s lawyers sought warrants but it is unclear whether an arrest occurred.

They also garnished patients’ paychecks and bank accounts. They routinely charged patients an 18% annual interest rate.

The unpaid bills ranged from several thousand dollars to as little as $101. About half the lawsuits were filed under Marshall’s name and the rest by Heartland Regional OBGYN, the medical practice he solely owned from 1998 to 2012 and then co-owned with another doctor from 2013 to 2019.

Some facing lawsuits were new mothers with outstanding bills from their deliveries. Most lived in Barton County, a rural area with above-average uninsured and poverty rates. Some patients The New York Times spoke with lacked insurance; others had health coverage but were responsible for part of their bill.

“I had every intention to pay, I was just struggling,” said Kellie Clutts, whom Marshall sued in 2015 over a $129 bill. Clutts said the charge was from a postpartum visit shortly after her daughter’s birth.

Marshall sued Clutts when her baby was 9 months old and eventually garnished her bank account.

“I was recently divorced, trying to do everything on my own,” said Clutts, 45. “I told them I could make partial payments, but it seemed like no matter what I said, they wanted the full amount at once.”

Debtor’s prisons. With an added bonus of targeting postpartum women.