Idaho Gov. Brad Little signs ‘abortion trafficking’ bill into law
Rachel Schilke
Gov. Brad Little (R-ID) signed a bill into law banning interstate travel for abortion, creating a new crime called “abortion trafficking.”
Little signed the law on Wednesday, making it illegal for minors to travel across state lines to receive an abortion without parental consent. The law makes it illegal for an “adult who, with the intent to conceal an abortion from the parents or guardian of a pregnant, unemancipated minor, either procures an abortion … or obtains an abortion-inducing drug” for the minor.
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“Recruiting, harboring, or transporting the pregnant minor within this state commits the crime of abortion trafficking,” according to the legislation. If found guilty, a resident of Idaho could face up to five years in prison, according to the law.
However, Little clarified in a letter to the state House that this law will not restrict interstate travel for adults seeking abortions for themselves.
“The ‘abortion trafficking’ provision in the bill seeks only to prevent unemancipated minor girls from being taken across state lines for an abortion without the knowledge and consent of her parent or guardian,” Little wrote.
The law will go into effect 30 days after Little’s signature.
Northwest Abortion Access Fund, a regional abortion fund encompassing Idaho, Oregon, Washington, and Alaska, released a statement following the governor’s signature.
“Many minors do not have supportive or safe parents or guardians in their lives who they can ask to help them get an abortion,” the organization said. “It’s remarkable that lawmakers believe that young Idahoans don’t have the capacity to make reproductive healthcare choices for themselves or deserve bodily autonomy, but believe that those same young people should have the capacity to raise and care for children on their own, without any major social or economic support.”
Idaho is one of 13 states with total bans on abortion after the Idaho Supreme Court ruled in January that there is no right to abortion in the state constitution. Little signed a near-total ban just one month after Roe v. Wade was overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court in June.
A federal judge ruled in August 2022 that Idaho doctors cannot be punished for performing an abortion to protect their patient’s health after the Biden administration sued the state for not including the provision in the six-week ban, which is in effect alongside the near-total ban. Exceptions to the law also include affirmative defenses in cases of rape or incest, but only if the victim has a police report.
Residents from Idaho seeking abortions will typically venture to nearby states such as Washington and Oregon, where abortion is legal. However, the new law will criminalize anyone who drives a minor to the Idaho border without parental consent and with the intent to get an abortion out of state.
Republican state Rep. Barbara Ehardt, one of the sponsors of the legislation, said the intent of the law is to prevent out-of-state travel despite the text discussing intrastate travel.
“It’s already illegal to get an abortion here in the state of Idaho,” Ehardt told HuffPost in an interview. “So, 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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Idaho is not the first state to restrict travel for abortion care. Missouri, a state known for its reaching anti-abortion legislation, has had a similar law waiting in the wings since 2005.
Though Missouri’s law carries a civil penalty if violated, Idaho’s law goes further by creating an entirely new crime under the state’s criminal code.