Senate approves 20-week abortion ban

A measure to ban abortions once a fetus has reached 20 weeks is moving on to the Idaho House after passing the Senate on Wednesday.

The measure of Sen. Chuck Winder, R-Boise, relies on disputed evidence of when a fetus begins feeling pain and cleared the GOP-dominated Senate on a 24-10 vote.

"I voted in favor of the bill because there is much evidence that the fetus experiences pain and even evidence that the pain is more intense than it is in newborns or older children," said Sen. Steve Vick, R-Dalton Gardens. "I believe it is imperative that we protect this innocent human life and exercise every caution available to us on behalf of the unborn child."

Sen. John Goedde, R-Coeur d'Alene, also supported the bill.

"Normally, when a bill is opposed by constituents, we hear from them and from groups, in this case like Planned Parenthood," Goedde said. "I had no input from such groups in opposition and listened to the debate on the floor. I voted in the affirmative on that basis."

Sen. Jim Hammond, R-Coeur d'Alene, said he supported the bill because he believes life begins at conception.

"I voted for this bill because well before the fifth month of pregnancy, when the baby is wanted, it is recognized as a living being and often given a name by then, but if the baby is not wanted, it somehow becomes a 'fetus' that is not human and thus does not suffer if aborted," he said.

Sen. Shawn Keough, R-Sandpoint, said she voted "no" because there are three different opinions from the Attorney General's Office that outlined problems with the bill and that it wouldn't stand up in court.

"Additionally, wording would make it possible for a rapist or a man who committed incest to file a lawsuit against a doctor who performed an abortion under the guise of 'father's rights,'" Keough said. "There was no leeway for mothers of babies who have extreme medical issues that would result in the baby either being born dead or not living very long outside the womb to cease the pregnancy."

If the bill becomes law, Idaho could follow Nebraska in banning abortions after 20 weeks despite an Idaho attorney general opinion that found the bill unconstitutional and doctor concerns that it could force women to deliver babies suffering from rare-but-deadly diseases that leave them little chance of survival outside the womb.

Sen. Joyce Broadsword, R-Sagle, was among three Republicans who joined the Senate's seven Democrats in opposition to the measure. Broadsword argued the legislation would result in costly litigation and force lawmakers to choose between their morals and their legislative ethics.

"We're passing legislation that we know is unconstitutional, that we know we're going to end up in court with," Broadsword said.

In the past decade, Idaho has spent more than $730,000 to defend restrictive abortion laws that were stricken down by the courts. Those costly rulings have prompted legislative leaders in recent years to require that abortion-related legislation be reviewed by the Idaho Attorney General's Office.

Last month, the agency told Winder his measure was "unconstitutional under the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution insofar as it proscribes some non-therapeutic abortions even before a fetus has reached viability," in an opinion from Steven Olsen, the chief of the agency's civil litigation division.

The constitutionality of Nebraska's law has so far not been challenged in the courts and anti-abortion lawmakers in several other states - Iowa, Indiana, Kentucky, Oklahoma, Minnesota and Florida - are contemplating virtually identical fetal pain legislation.

Proponents say the goal is to go state-by-state to deny abortion doctors a refuge to perform such procedures.

During a hearing in Senate State Affair Committee last week, Winder assembled a group of out-of-state medical and legal experts to convince lawmakers that a fetus 20 weeks after fertilization will suffer during an abortion and that a ban on such procedures will survive the courts.

"I think it's worthwhile for us to consider. I think anytime we're dealing with the life of an unborn we need to consider that," Winder said.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.