Idaho Gov. Brad Little, a Republican, has signed a bill banning the “abortion trafficking” of minors.
The new law makes it a crime for an adult to help a minor obtain an abortion or abortion pills out-of-state without parental consent.
Under House Bill 242, any adult that transports or otherwise helps a minor obtain an abortion can face up to five years in prison.
Planned Parenthood Alliance Advocates has whined that the bill is “despicable” and vowed to do everything possible to stop it.
“This bill criminalizes an adult assisting a young person accessing abortion care with the intent of concealing the abortion from their parent,” the organization tweeted. “While most young people include their parents in the decision to get an abortion, some are in dangerous, abusive situations.”
Idaho borders Washington, Oregon, Montana and California — where minors can legally obtain abortions without their parents being involved.
Washington Gov. Jay Inslee, a Democrat, wrote to Governor Little urging him not to sign the legislation so that minors can continue traveling to his state to terminate pregnancies.
“Among the harmful impacts that this legislation will have, particularly when combined with Idaho’s recently passed abortion bans, are the exodus of some healthcare professionals from your state as well as the certain resulting increased mortality rate of Idahoan women and girls,” Inslee wrote.
The Hill reports, “Earlier this year, Oregon’s Justice Department launched a legal helpline to aid people in accessing abortion care in the state. The Oregon Attorney General called the helpline “especially important because we share a border with Idaho, which has a near-total abortion ban.”Earlier this year, Oregon’s Justice Department launched a legal helpline to aid people in accessing abortion care in the state. The Oregon Attorney General called the helpline “especially important because we share a border with Idaho, which has a near-total abortion ban.”
Planned Parenthood and the American Civil Liberties Union have announced that they are suing the state’s Attorney General for his interpretation of the laws surrounding out of state abortion referrals.
“Labrador’s interpretation is unprecedented and amounts to a clear threat that Idaho will seek to punish individuals for speech and conduct related to abortions that take place in states where abortion is legal,” Planned Parenthood Great Northwest said in a Wednesday filing in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Idaho, Southern Division.
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