Idaho has three separate bans: one that allows family members of an aborted fetus to sue abortion providers in civil court, the other bans abortions after six weeks of pregnancy. and the third bans all abortions from conception, except in cases of rape, incest or a medical threat to the mother’s life.
The most stringent of the three laws has been in partial effect since late August. A lawsuit brought by the US Department of Justice has blocked part of a law that would have allowed doctors and abortion providers to be banned. lawsuits and convictions in criminal court. That case is still pending.
Under that law, convicted service providers face up to five years in prison and possible medical license suspension. for at least six months. It allows doctors to cite rape, incest or an attempt to save a pregnant woman’s life to defend in a court of law. But the woman must provide a police report in case of rape or incest.
Idaho’s right to life, which believes abortion is murder, praised the court’s decision. The judges “respected the pro-life laws that were passed by representatives of the people.”
Rebecca Gibron, executive director of Planned Parenthood Great Northwest, Hawaii, Indiana, Kentucky, said it was “a dark day for the state of Idaho,” but added that “our fight is far from over. “
Mary Ziegler, a law professor at the University of California, Davis, said the rulings in Idaho and South Carolina underscore the importance of state supreme courts, especially in states like Idaho that hold elections judicial appointment.
Idaho’s five judges are elected in nonpartisan elections, or appointed by the governor in the event of a midterm vacancy. Four of the current five judges in Idaho, a deeply Republican state that voted to re-elect Donald Trump as president in 2020, are appointed by a Republican governor.
