ACLU, Planned Parenthood sue Idaho AG over out-of-state abortion referral ban

Planned Parenthood and the American Civil Liberties Union on Wednesday separately announced they’re filing suit against the Idaho attorney general over an interpretation of state law that would punish medical professionals who refer patients out-of-state for abortion services.

Idaho’s attorney general Raúl Labrador issued a legal opinion last week that said state law prohibits medical providers from referring a patient across state lines to undergo an abortion, or from prescribing abortion pills for a patient to pick up across state lines. 

“Preventing health care providers from referring patients out of state to get an abortion? Extreme, unprecedented, and unconstitutional. Attorney General Labrador, we’ll see you in court,” Planned Parenthood said on Twitter.

The ACLU also said it’s suing Labrador “for threatening health care providers who exercise their First Amendment right to give patients information about out-of-state abortion care.”

“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.

Labrado’s opinion “depends on the assertion that Idaho law punishes abortions performed outside of Idaho,” which the plaintiffs contend isn’t the case, the filing continues.  

The lawsuit comes after Republican Idaho Gov. Brad Little on Wednesday signed into law a new bill that makes it a crime for an adult to aid a minor in undergoing an abortion or obtaining abortion pills out-of state without parental permission. 

Planned Parenthood has also said it plans to challenge the new law. Idaho’s abortion laws are some of the most restrictive nationwide.