Idaho has become the first state to pass a law restricting travel for abortions. On Wednesday (April 5), Governor Brad Little signed a bill that makes it illegal for an adult to help a minor get an abortion without parental consent, the news agency Associated Press reported on Thursday. The abortion trafficking law is the first of its kind in the United States. The law makes it illegal to either obtain abortion pills for a minor or to help them leave the state for an abortion without their parents’ knowledge and consent.
Anyone convicted will face two to five years in prison and could also be sued by the minor’s parent or guardian. The law states that parents who raped their child will not be able to sue, though the criminal penalties for anyone who helped the minor obtain an abortion will remain in effect.
The law also gives the attorney general the ability to prosecute someone for alleged violations of the law, even if the county prosecutor — who would normally be responsible for filing a criminal case — declines to prosecute.
In a statement, the Planned Parenthood Federation of America said that the law raises pressing concerns about the state’s legal ability to restrict residents from travelling to neighbouring states to access abortion care.
“Banning abortion wasn’t enough for these anti-abortion zealots. They will stop at nothing to control what we do and where we go — even if it means holding people, hostage, when trying to access essential health services. Young people seeking abortion deserve our compassion and support, not the extreme government overreach this law sanctions,” Alexis McGill Johnson, the federation’s president, said in the statement.
Idaho, like many other American states, has multiple abortion laws on the books. Two Idaho doctors and a regional Planned Parenthood affiliate sued Wednesday over the state’s interpretation of another strict abortion ban, contending it unconstitutionally limits interstate travel for abortions, the Associated Press reported.
The ban makes it illegal for physicians to use “any means to intentionally terminate the clinically diagnosable pregnancy of a woman,” if they know the termination will reasonably cause the death of the unborn child. It went into effect shortly after the US Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade last year.
Idaho has already effectively banned abortion in all stages of pregnancy and is one of a handful of states that already have laws penalising those who help people of any age obtain abortions.
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