Idaho Imposes “Abortion Trafficking” Ban, Criminalizing Taking Minors Across State Lines to Abort Babies

Idaho Governor Brad Little has signed a new bill criminalizing the act of helping a minor obtain an abortion without parental consent, even if the procedure is performed outside of Idaho. The new law, called “abortion trafficking,” prohibits any adult from recruiting, harboring, or transporting a pregnant minor across state lines to terminate a pregnancy without parental permission. Violating this law can lead to two to five years in prison, and civil penalties are also in place. Family members of the pregnant woman can sue doctors who perform or attempt to perform an abortion in violation of the law’s provisions. “Family members” are defined as the parents, grandparents, siblings, aunts, or uncles of the preborn child. The law does not extend the ability to sue for damages, costs, and attorney fees to the parent of the preborn child in cases of incest or rape.

The pro-life groups have praised the law as it aims to stop the increasing trend of Idahoans and organizations recruiting and luring minors across state lines for abortions. However, the pro-abortion group Planned Parenthood Alliance Advocates-West called the legislation “despicable” and vowed to try and stop it. Washington state Governor Jay Inslee, a Democrat, urged Governor Little to veto the bill, stating that it would punish underage Washington residents who later traveled back to Washington to get an abortion without parental consent. Idaho’s abortion laws are some of the most restrictive in the United States, and authorities in Oregon, another state sharing Idaho’s border, inaugurated a hotline in January to offer free lawful advice on abortion access.

The new law is one of the latest developments in the complicated abortion debate that is currently ongoing. However, lawmakers in Oregon, where abortion is legal at all stages of pregnancy, and where 16 and 17-year-olds don’t need parental consent to obtain an abortion, have proposed a bill that would implement a wide-ranging series of measures to make access to abortion even more unfettered. One such measure includes allowing anyone who provides “reproductive health care” to perform abortions without regard to age and in some cases prohibiting them from disclosing that information to parents.