Idaho’s efforts to protect the lives of the unborn are facing a legal challenge as activists filed a lawsuit that introduced a slippery slope argument on the ability of minors to consent.
Earlier this year, Idaho Gov. Brad Little (R) signed into law legislation aimed at expanding the pro-life agenda with what were deemed anti-trafficking measures. While unable to control the legality of abortions in neighboring states like Washington and Oregon, Idaho’s HB 242 in part made it a felony for adults to aid a pregnant minor in gaining access to those services through funding or transport without parental consent.
Tuesday, the advocacy group Legal Voice filed a lawsuit in Boise’s federal court alleging that the “draconian” new law was a violation of the constitutional rights of Idahoans.
“Ignoring that some of the minors may seek an abortion because they were sexually abused by a parent or guardian, that they have consulted with trusted adults who support their position, or that they are actual victims of human trafficking, they instead seek to stop pregnant minors from crossing state lines to receive abortion care,” the suit stated before declaring, “The statute is unconstitutional.”
Filed on behalf of Nampa, Idaho attorney Lourdes Matsumoto, Northwest Abortion Access Fund and the Indigenous Idaho Alliance, Legal Voice contended “It infringes on the right to interstate travel…intrastate travel…[and] First Amendment rights to speak about abortion and to associate and to engage in expressive conduct, including providing monies and transportation…for pregnant minors traveling within and outside of Idaho to access out-of-state legal abortion care.”
As previously reported, HB 242 allowed for parents to sue parties found guilty of aiding a minor in accessing an abortion in violation of the law with penalties as high as two to five years in prison.
Idaho governor signed bill banning ‘abortion trafficking,’ first of its kind https://t.co/ifY5LHACjp pic.twitter.com/N4a9W01kcm
— BizPac Review (@BIZPACReview) April 8, 2023
“The law is so uncertain that Plaintiffs cannot tell if it is criminal to operate a motor vehicle on the streets and highways of Idaho because a pregnant minor is in the car,” the suit alleged.
Wedged into a footnote in the lawsuit’s introduction was a grievance with Little’s ban on genital mutilation and chemical castration of minors as the Legal Voice attempted to assert a contradiction in what constituted parental rights. As pointed out, HB 71 “banned gender affirming medical care for transgender minors, even where a parent wanted their child to receive such medical care.”
Ideologically, neither the plaintiff nor the defendant were inconsistent in their views as the Idaho legislature and governor were attempting to preserve the sanctity of life and the health and well-being of minors, while the activists sought to open Pandora’s box and allow for minors to reach the most sordid depths of depravity by allowing consent.
Wendy Heipt, an attorney for the plaintiffs, commented, “Idaho’s law is the first time a state has tried to criminalize the right to travel for health care. It is unconstitutional to forbid citizens from traveling because you disapprove of the reasons they are driving to another state. Idahoans, like all people, should be free to travel within and between states without the specter of prison. Even if they are traveling for a reason other people disagree with. If this stands, what is next?”
By contrast, Idaho state Rep. Barbara Ehardt (R), the lead sponsor of the legislation, had said earlier this year, “We are only looking to continue to protect our children and our parental rights,” and noted with abortion illegal in Idaho, “it would be taking that child across the border, and if that happens without the permission of the parent, that’s where we’ll be able to hold accountable those that would subvert a parent’s right.”
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Native of Brooklyn, NY, Kevin Haggerty is a graduate of Hunter College where he studied Cultural Anthropology and Geography. An avid reader and truth seeker, he currently resides in Texas with his wife and their dog and, when he isn’t researching current events and their impacts, you’ll find him spending time with friends and family or working on his next novel.
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