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Idaho will ban most abortions after US Supreme Court ruling

by KAYE THORNBRUGH
Staff Writer | June 25, 2022 1:08 AM

COEUR d’ALENE — The U.S. Supreme Court’s 6-3 vote to overturn Roe v. Wade will trigger a 2020 Idaho law criminalizing all abortions, except in cases of reported rape or incest or to save the mother’s life.

The law takes effect 30 days after the court’s decision, which is expected soon. It will negate Idaho’s current law allowing most abortions up to fetal viability, around 24 weeks.

Gov. Brad Little, who signed the trigger law, said the ruling means Idahoans must “confront” the growing needs of those who will be unable to end their pregnancies in Idaho.

“We absolutely must come together like never before to support women and teens facing unexpected or unwanted pregnancies,” he said in a statement Friday.

Little said families, faith communities, charities and local and state government must be prepared to provide access to “adoption services, health care, financial and food assistance, counseling and treatment and family planning.”

Under Idaho’s trigger law, a physician providing an abortion can be charged with a felony punishable by up to five years in prison, as well as by suspension or revocation of their medical license.

Patients would not be prosecuted for seeking abortions.

The statute includes a defense if the physician “determined, in his good faith medical judgement and based on the facts known to the physician at the time” that abortion was necessary to prevent the patient’s death.

The law specifically bans physicians from providing abortions in cases where the patient is at risk for self-harm or suicide.

Victims of rape or incest must give an abortion provider a copy of a police report before undergoing the procedure. That process can take weeks, because law enforcement agencies typically don’t release reports involving active investigations.

This year, Idaho legislators also passed a law authorizing family members to sue medical providers for performing an abortion after a fetal heartbeat is detected.

Under the law, a rapist could not sue the abortion provider — but a rapist’s parents, siblings or other children could.

Implementation of the law is on hold following a challenge by Planned Parenthood. The Idaho Supreme Court will hear arguments in August.

The ban on abortion will primarily affect residents of central and southern Idaho, who receive most in-state abortions.

Data from the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare shows that almost all North Idahoans who receive abortions already travel out of state to do so.

Only one North Idahoan who received an abortion in 2020 did so in Idaho; the remaining 254 North Idaho patients reportedly went out of state.

There are no abortion clinics in North Idaho and Kootenai Health does not provide elective abortions. But just across the state line, patients can receive abortions in Spokane.

Paul Dillon, vice president of public affairs at Planned Parenthood of Greater Washington and North Idaho, said Friday that 43% of patients who have received abortions this year at the Spokane Valley Health Center came from Idaho.

Almost two-thirds of patients who’ve received abortions at the Pullman Health Center in Washington this year are from Idaho, Dillon said — about 62%.

Before the Supreme Court’s ruling, Planned Parenthood had already closed its clinic in Boise and merged it with another in Meridian. A second clinic operates in Twin Falls.

Planned Parenthood said in a statement that it will continue to provide abortion care in Idaho for as long as legally possible.

“It is a dark day for our country, but this is far from over,” said Karl Eastlund, CEO of Planned Parenthood of Greater Washington and North Idaho. “Patients should know that (Planned Parenthood) will always fight for you, and we will not back down.”

Neighboring states are bracing for an influx of patients seeking abortion care after bans take effect. Some patients will have to travel hundreds or even thousands of miles to access abortion care.

A new Planned Parenthood clinic is expected to open in Ontario, on the Oregon side of the state’s border with Idaho.

Washington Gov. Jay Inslee noted Friday that his state’s law — which allows abortion up to the point of fetal viability — is unchanged.

“Washington state remains steadfast in our commitment to protecting the ability and right of every patient who comes to our state in need of abortion care and we will fight like hell to restore that right to patients all across the country,” Inslee said in a news release.

The Idaho Academy of Family Physicians said Friday that the majority of its members support access to abortion care as it has been allowed in Idaho since the passage of Roe v. Wade.

“Health care decisions should be made by patients in consultation with a trusted physician who is able to offer all information necessary to ensure informed consent,” the group said in a news release.

Numerous Idaho lawmakers celebrated the Supreme Court’s ruling, including U.S. Sen. Jim Risch, who said the court “wrongly decided” Roe v. Wade in 1973.

U.S. Sen. Mike Crapo wrote on Twitter that he believes the court’s decision “holds states’ ability to protect the right to life.”

“I believe abortion is wrong and should be limited to cases where the mother’s life is in imminent danger,” he wrote.

U.S. Rep. Mike Simpson said in a statement that the court’s decision was correct, while U.S. Rep. Russ Fulcher tweeted that he was proud Idaho already has a trigger law.

Connie Frank, who organizes the annual “Right to Life” march and rally in Coeur d’Alene, said she’s “ecstatic” about the Supreme Court’s ruling, which allows states to ban abortion.

“Idaho is pro-life,” she said. “We’re going to work to make sure Idaho stays pro-life.”

In May, the Kootenai County Women’s March — organized in response to the leaked Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe v. Wade — drew hundreds of demonstrators.

Community organizer Laura Tenneson said that turnout shows the desire to outlaw abortion in Idaho isn’t universal, even in a conservative stronghold like Kootenai County.

“We have a large portion of our community who believe women should have the right to have autonomy over their own bodies,” she said.

Tenneson noted that, before the landmark Roe v. Wade ruling legalized abortion, patients sought dangerous, illegal abortions.

“It was happening behind closed doors, in unsafe places, leading to women losing their lives,” she said. “That is going to happen again.”