Earlier this year, Idaho enacted a law aimed at protecting minors from abortion trafficking. The law prohibits minors from being taken across state lines for abortion procedures. Those who are found guilty of violating this law face between two and five years in prison.
Pro-abortion activists are now pushing back, asserting that the abortion trafficking ban violates constitutional rights. Two advocacy groups filed a lawsuit in federal court on Tuesday claiming that the law infringes upon the First Amendment right to discuss abortion with minors and the Fourth Amendment right to interstate travel.
The lawsuit was initiated by the Legal Voice activist group, representing Nampo attorney Lourdes Matsumoto, the Northwest Abortion Access Fund, and the Indigenous Idaho Alliance. These groups claim Idaho’s pro-life laws, which protect preborn children throughout all nine months of pregnancy, are “draconian” and the “worst in the nation.”
“Although many minors faced with an unintended pregnancy choose to involve their parents, many do not,” the lawsuit stated. “There are minors who cannot or do not have access to their parents. There are minors who are afraid to anger or disappoint their parents, as well as those who face the threat of violence in their homes.”
However, the lawsuit fails to address the reality of abortion trafficking, which is a very real problem that laws like the one in Idaho seek to address.
READ: The link between sex trafficking, abortion, and Planned Parenthood
Tragically, human trafficking affects an alarming 27.6 million individuals worldwide, and those accompanying victims of human trafficking for abortions are often the very predators who exploit them. In a disconcerting investigation called “Aiding Abusers,” Live Action revealed a disturbing pattern of child sexual abuse cover-ups within Planned Parenthood, spanning decades. Through recorded cases, interviews with former workers, and shocking instances of involvement in sex trafficking, the investigative video series brought to light the issue of abortion trafficking.
While Idaho’s laws aim to protect the preborn, the abortion laws of neighboring states are much more lenient. The Associated Press reports that in the year since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, the states surrounding Idaho saw a significant increase in abortions, including almost 1,500 in Washington, more than 1,300 in Oregon and nearly 2,600 in Nevada, according to data from the pro-abortion Society of Family Planning.
Judge Debora K. Grasham of the Idaho District Court has been assigned the lawsuit. The case is expected to proceed in coming weeks.
According to an emailed statement to the Idaho Capital Sun from Emily Kleinworth, spokesperson for Idaho Attorney General Raúl Labrador’s office, the AG’s office cannot comment on pending legislation but are prepared to “vigorously defend the constitutionality of statutes duly passed by Legislature.”
