Idaho Gov. Brad Little has signed a law making it a crime to transport minor girls across state lines to receive abortions.
The bill passed in the state House on March 7 by a majority vote of 57-12, with one abstention. Little signed the bill into law on April 5, taking effect in 30 days.
In a letter to Idaho House Speaker Mike Moyle, Little said House Bill 242 does not infringe on an adult woman seeking an abortion in another state.
“Rather, 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 said.
Mifepristone (Mifeprex) and Misoprostol, the two drugs used in a chemical abortion, are seen at the Women’s Reproductive Clinic, in Santa Teresa, N.M., on June 17, 2022. (Robyn Beck/AFP/Getty Images)The law defines abortion trafficking as 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 by recruiting, harboring, or transporting the pregnant minor” to another state for the procedure.
Abortion trafficking in Idaho carries a penalty of two to five years in prison.
The law further stipulates that all medical professionals who perform an abortion will face a minimum civil penalty of $20,000 in damages.
It adds that any relative who assists in the unlawful trafficking of a minor girl for an abortion could be held liable for damages.
However, the law does not allow civil actions for abortions performed on a woman who became pregnant through rape, sexual assault, incest, or “other criminal conduct.”
Little’s law signing drew a sharp rebuke from Planned Parenthood Alliances Advocates-West.
“Yet again, Idaho’s governor disregarded constituents and signed HB242 into law, creating the nation’s first crime of so-called ‘abortion trafficking,'” the organization said in a Twitter post on April 5.
“This legislation is despicable, and we’re going to do everything in our power to stop it.”
On June 24, 2022, the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, the landmark legislation that made abortion legal in the United States for 50 years.
The nearest Democrat-led “blue” states that provide abortions include Oregon and Washington.
In an April 4 letter, Washington Gov. Jay Inslee urged Little to veto HB242, a bill that Inslee said would “most certainly have many unacceptable consequences that cannot be cured.”
“Among the harmful impacts that this legislation will have—particularly when combined with Idaho’s recently passed abortion bans—are the exodus of some health care professionals from your state as well as the certain resulting increased mortality rate of Idahoan women and girls,” wrote Inslee, who questioned the law’s “constitutionality.”
Idaho Gov. Brad Little gestures during a press conference at the Statehouse in Boise, Idaho, on Oct. 1, 2020. (Darin Oswald/Idaho Statesman via AP)“I fear that our residents, in particular the women and girls of Washington, will be in grave danger if they travel to your state and find themselves in need of urgent reproductive health care services.
“This bill would also attempt to punish some Washington residents who happen to be in your state for any length of time, a gross abuse of their right to travel between our states. As a result, all Washingtonians have a stake in this matter,” Inslee said.
“But, make no mistake Governor Little, the laws of another state that seek to punish anyone in Washington for lawful actions taken in Washington will not stand.”
Inslee vowed to protect Washington health care providers and to “harbor and comfort your residents who seek health care services denied to them in Idaho.”