The Right to Life

COEUR d'ALENE — Anyone who traveled along U.S. 95 in Coeur d'Alene near Dalton Avenue on Saturday morning most likely witnessed the annual Right to Life Commemorative March and Rally.

More than 100 people, children and elderly included, joined in and marched in the pouring rain from Skate Plaza Roller Rink to Kmart and back to Skate Plaza. Many carried picket signs and banners in support of a pro-life stance on abortion.

"It's just a chance for people of all religions to stand up for life from conception until natural death," said Connie Frank, Right to Life Coeur d'Alene member.

"God created the universe, he created us, he created babies starting at the instant of conception and we all as brothers and sisters in Christ know that abortion is murder," said Pastor Ed Pace of First Lutheran Church in Spirit Lake. "It’s time to stand up and take charge and let the world know that and change the world."

The rally signs provided by Right to Life Coeur d'Alene contained only words and no images. Some of the signs read, "Life begins at conception," "Abortion hurts women" and "Abortion: The ultimate child abuse." Some signs simply stated, "Honk for Life."

When a group from the Abolitionist Society appeared with its own signs depicting graphic abortion images, Right to Life of Coeur d'Alene representatives expressed their dismay. Frank explained the Abolitionist Society attended the rally with the graphic signs last year, so Right to Life Coeur d'Alene wrote a formal letter specifically requesting they not bring their own signs because they are not in line with what Right to Life Coeur d'Alene is trying to accomplish. Right to Life Coeur d'Alene embraces and has compassion for all, Frank said, even those who have chosen abortion in their lifetimes. The graphic images are detrimental to this message of acceptance.

"They have prevented women who have had abortions from seeking help emotionally," Frank said. "It isn't right that they just intrude."

The commemorative march and rally has taken place in Coeur d'Alene for 36 years in accordance with the annual "March for Life" held in Washington D.C. for the last 43 years — every year since the Roe v. Wade decision was announced on Jan. 22, 1973.

The landmark decision, ruled by the U.S. Supreme Court, supported the Constitutional right for a woman to choose to have an abortion, under the 14th Amendment.

While no protestors were visible at Saturday's rally, George Schick of Coeur d'Alene walked by and voiced one aspect of the pro-choice argument: "What if somebody gets raped, what are her options?"

"She probably doesn't want the baby," Schick said. "As far as the rest, I agree with (the Right to Life supporters), but in certain cases, the woman has got to have the right to say, 'Listen, I don't want the child.'"

As per the Roe v. Wade ruling, women in their first trimester of pregnancy can decide whether to terminate the pregnancy. The decision also allowed states the option to regulate abortion procedures related to the health of the mother, and in the third trimester could promote their interest by regulating or even prohibiting abortion, except when necessary to preserve the life or health of the mother.

After many years under the radar since the Roe v. Wade decision, in the past five years Idaho's legislative statutes have been put under the microscope by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.

In 2011, the Idaho State Legislature added Section 18-505 to the statutes, which states: "Abortion of unborn child of 20 or more weeks post-fertilization age prohibited. No person shall perform or induce or attempt to perform or induce an abortion upon a woman when it has been determined, by the physician performing or inducing the abortion or by another physician upon whose determination that physician relies, that the probable post-fertilization age of the woman's unborn child is 20 or more weeks."

The exceptions listed under the statute include complicated medical conditions that require abortion to avert the death of the woman or irreversible physical impairment of a major bodily function, or if it is necessary to preserve the life of an unborn child.

Also in 2011, Jenni McCormack of Pocatello was arrested and criminally charged for violating Section 18-606 "for knowingly submitting to an abortion not authorized under the statute, or purposely self-terminating a pregnancy," according to the case study filed in May 2015 by the Ninth Circuit Court. The Ninth Circuit ultimately decided McCormack's case fell within the exceptions of the statute, and during this case had examined the other Idaho statutes.

According to the case file, the panel held that Section 18-505 was unconstitutional because it bans some abortions before viability. The panel further held that Section 18-608, requiring all second-trimester abortions to occur in a hospital was unconstitutional because it "places undue burden on a woman's ability to obtain an abortion by requiring hospitalizations for all second-trimester abortions. Section 18-605, requiring first-trimester abortions to take place in a hospital, was determined to be "unconstitutionally vague."

The statutes were updated at www.legislature.idaho.gov as of July 1, 2015, according to the website, and the sections held unconstitutional by the Ninth Circuit remain in effect at this time.

As for the issue on a national scale, according to a May 2015 Gallup poll, half of Americans consider themselves to be "pro-choice" on abortion while 44 percent consider themselves "pro-life." It's the first time since 2008 that more Americans support the pro-choice position over the pro-life position. The results indicate a slight gender gap; a higher percentage of women were found to be "pro-choice” than in 2001 while men identify about the same as previous polls. However, "the pro-choice view is not as prevalent among Americans as it was in the mid-1990s, but the momentum for the pro-life position that began when President Barack Obama took office has yielded to a pro-choice rebound," Gallup states.

Frank said in Kootenai County, women who choose abortion go to Spokane because no known clinics exist in this area. Kim Anderson, spokeswoman for Kootenai Health, said the only time Kootenai Health will perform an abortion procedure is when no heartbeat is detected and it is determined that the fetus has died. Doctors would remove the tissue from inside the uterus using a "D and C" — dilation and curettage — procedure.

"At Kootenai, if it is a viable pregnancy, we do not perform an abortion," Anderson said.

In 2013, the most recent numbers available from Idaho Health and Welfare, only one "induced abortion" was performed in the state of Idaho. That same year, 1,375 abortions were performed statewide, with 1,106 of them taking place in District Four in the Boise area. According to the Washington State Department of Health website, 1,038 abortions were reported in Spokane County in 2014.

Frank said even though abortions are seldom performed in Kootenai County, Right to Life Coeur d'Alene holds the rally each year in hopes of making a bigger change.

"We hold it here because we are all people who believe in life," she said. "It's not a religious thing, it's a political thing — we hope to change Roe."

Staff writer Devin Heilman contributed to this story.