BOISE, Idaho — An Idaho judge has issued a new ruling that clarifies when abortion is legally permitted under Idaho’s near-total ban, stating that doctors can perform an abortion if there’s some risk to the pregnant patient’s life, not just an immediate threat.
The decision comes more than a year after four women, including Jillaine St. Michel, filed a lawsuit against the state after being denied abortion care during medically complicated pregnancies.
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“It’s not enough. It really doesn't change much of anything,” St. Michel said.
St. Michel was 20 weeks pregnant when she received a diagnosis that her fetus would not survive. Still, because she was not deemed to be at imminent risk of death, Idaho law barred her from getting an abortion. She ultimately had to leave the state to seek care.
“On one hand, I'm glad that the needle is moving forward in a positive direction, and at the same time, I think it's a bit overshadowed for me by the fact that it's not enough,” she added.
While the ruling offers legal reassurance to doctors that they can act before a patient is on the brink of death, it does not expand abortion access for women facing non-viable fetal diagnoses or severe mental health issues like suicidal thoughts, unless those conditions pose a direct threat to the mother’s life.
“Thinking of women who have gotten fatal fetal diagnoses, [who] were told that they have a doomed pregnancy. Basically, nothing changes for them. That's really heartbreaking for me to think of someone else going through that additional trauma during an already incredibly difficult period of your life,” St. Michel said.
Idaho Attorney General Raúl Labrador praised the court’s decision, saying it affirms the constitutionality of Idaho’s abortion laws and clears the way for doctors to act when necessary.
Idaho’s abortion laws are constitutional and protect both unborn children and their mothers.” Labrador's office said in a statement. “Idaho law has never required doctors to wait until a woman’s death is certain or imminent before performing an abortion.”
For St. Michel, who has since moved to Minnesota with her family, the ruling feels both personal and painful.
“That was probably, for me, the most difficult part of the whole experience—being in a courtroom, sharing that out loud with my fellow plaintiffs who had [also] gone through severe trauma,” she said. “When I think back to that version of myself, I know that I have to continue fighting. I know I have to— continue showing up and sharing.”
