Paul,
The real answer lies in the handling qualities of your helo without electronic stability. Most helos are pretty decent at moderate speed with no artificial stability, even though they are a long way from certifiable in IMC. For example, I have many hours in the UH-1, S-76, H-34 and OH-13 on simulated or actual instruments with no stability, so that relatively constant monitoring is needed, but these aircraft are a long, long way from declaring an emergency under such conditions.
I wonder where we are going in pilot training if folks are being told that they are near death if their stability fails!