Idaho bill would ban ‘abortion trafficking’ if passed

A bill in Idaho would make it a crime for an adult to aid a minor in undergoing an abortion or obtaining abortion pills across state lines with the intent to conceal their purpose from the minor’s parents or legal guardian.

Idaho House Bill 242 calls the crime “abortion trafficking,” and adults convicted of obtaining abortion pills or of “recruiting, harboring, or transporting the pregnant minor” for a procedure across state lines and without parental consent would face up to five years in prison, according to the bill text.

Idaho borders several states where abortion is legal, including Oregon, Washington, Montana and California. Oregon’s Department of Justice launched a legal helpline for abortion access earlier this year, which the state’s Attorney General noted as important “because we share a border with Idaho, which has a near-total abortion ban.”

The proposal passed the Idaho House and is now before the state Senate. If it passes the GOP-majority chamber, it would head to Republican Gov. Brad Little’s desk for signature.

The bill would add to Idaho’s abortion laws, already some of the most restrictive in the country.

It’s among a number of states that moved to ramp up abortion restrictions after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down Roe v. Wade last summer, turning the regulation of abortion over to the states. Earlier this year, the Idaho Supreme Court upheld several abortion restrictions, green-lighting a near-total abortion ban, a bar against abortions after the detection of electrical activity and a provision allowing family members of the fetus to sue for damages.

“Imagine receiving a prison sentence for helping a young family member in need travel out of state to get an abortion. Anti-abortion politicians in ID are about to make this a reality,” Planned Parenthood Action said on Twitter Wednesday, urging opposition to the bill.