BOISE, Idaho — It will now be illegal in Idaho to help a minor receive an abortion across state lines or help them obtain abortion-inducing drugs without the consent of their parents.
Wednesday night, Gov. Little signed House Bill 242aaS, commonly referred to as the 'abortion trafficking' bill. People convicted of the crime of abortion trafficking could face two to five years in jail if they are convicted of the crime.
"With the U.S. Supreme Court's reversal of Roe V. Wade last summer, the right and duty to establish legal policy on abortion was finally returned to our state democratic process."
Per the text of the bill, this act shall be in full force and effect 30 days after its passage and approval.
“For too long now Idaho lawmakers have slipped under the radar with some of the strictest anti-abortion laws in the country," said Mistie DelliCarpini-Tolman, Idaho State Director of Planned Parenthood Alliance Advocates, in a statement Wednesday night. "Now, they are using an incredibly serious term like 'trafficking' to talk about young people traveling with trusted adults to access a legal procedure in another state. It’s despicable."
The Idaho Family Policy Center is a Conservative Christian policy group that lobbied for the bill. They say the bill is to protect pregnant children from trafficking.
“The bill only prohibits taking a girl across state lines with the intent to conceal that abortion from the parents," said Blaine Conzatti, the president of the Idaho Family Policy Center. "So we’re not talking about a girl going across state lines to get an abortion that her parents have consented to.”
