Lawmakers introduced a bill that would add criminal penalities for the sale of fetal tissue following an abortion.
Majority Caucus Chair Todd Lakey, R-Nampa, made the motion.
"I certainly support the concept,” he said. “We want to make sure we're not providing any incentive for the use of body parts or tissue from aborted infants."
This comes on the heels of the Center for Medical Progress's investigation into fetal tissue donations at Planned Parenthood clinics. Governor Otter's Administration investigated if the practice was happening in Idaho and found no wrong-doing.
Lakey said it's not current practice so much as the principle that matters.
"I think it's an important enough issue based on the public policy in Idaho that there not be an incentive and that we clarify that in the law,” he said.
The bill also prohibits state universities from conducting fetal stem cell research.
However, it does not affect a woman's access to an abortion nor the tissue collection of still births or miscarriages.
