Idaho governor signs bill blocking minors from leaving state for abortion

UPDATE, 4/6/23: Governor Brad Little signed House Bill 242 into law, despite pressure from abortion supporters to veto it. Washington Governor Jay Inslee, who is stockpiling abortion pills in his state, sent Little a letter urging a veto, saying, “Among the harmful impacts that this legislation will have, particularly when combined with Idaho’s recently passed abortion bans, are the exodus of some healthcare professionals from your state as well as the certain resulting increased mortality rate of Idahoan women and girls.”

4/5/23: A bill that would protect minors from being taken across state lines for abortion is making its way through the Idaho legislature.

House Bill 242 would protect minor children from “abortion trafficking.” It would be illegal for an adult to give abortion pills to a child, and also protects children from an adult “recruiting, harboring, or transporting” them for abortion without parental consent. If someone is found to have participated in abortion trafficking, they face between two and five years in prison.

Abusers have been known to take their victims across state lines and force them into abortions, as a means of hiding their crimes. These abusers are often aided by the abortion industry, which is why a bill like this is needed.

“This gives us the tools to go after those who would subvert a parent’s right to be able to make those decisions in conjunction with their child,” Rep. Barbara Ehardt, who sponsored the bill, said.

Rebecca Gibron, CEO of Planned Parenthood Great Northwest, said if it passes, they will sue, and cited Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s opinion in the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision which overturned Roe v. Wade. “There’s no way this bill is constitutional,” Gibron told States Newsroom. “Even (Kavanaugh) agrees that people have a right to interstate travel for abortion.”

Yet while people may have the right to interstate travel for abortion, transporting a minor child across state lines for an abortion, without parental consent, is not as clear, as National Right to Life President Carol Tobias explained.

“HB 242 protects parents’ rights to be involved in their minor daughter’s decision,” she said, according to KMVT. “No minor daughter should be without her parents’ guidance and HB 242 would protect the right of parents. Parents have the right to love their daughter and be there for her in her time of need. No one should take that away.”

The bill has passed both houses of the Idaho legislature, and must be signed by Gov. Brad Little by Thursday; if he does not sign it or veto it by then, it will become law.

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