BOISE, Idaho — A panel of Idaho lawmakers has introduced a bill that would ban abortions after six weeks of pregnancy — before many women know they are pregnant — by allowing extended family members of the patient to sue any doctor that performs one.
The legislation introduced on Friday from Blain Conzatti, president of the anti-abortion organization Idaho Family Policy Center, is modeled on a similar law in Texas that is the most restrictive in the nation. Shortly after the bill was introduced on a party-line vote, Planned Parenthood Alliance Advocates of Idaho issued a statement criticizing the legislation as an end-run around the constitutional right to abortion.
All Idahoans deserve the freedom to decide what is best for ourselves. But instead of fighting for our freedoms, these legislators are deputizing everyday Idahoans to become intrusive vigilantes who spy on their family members for cash rewards. We deserve better than this dangerous assault on our individual rights,” Mistie DelliCarpini-Tolman, Idaho State Director for Planned Parenthood Alliance Advocates, said in the statement. “This bill is an attack on our privacy and endangers everyone’s safety — all in the name of ending access to an essential health care service. This is sick, and it is wrong. It is time to stop using people’s health and safety as a political bargaining chip and get back to serving the people of Idaho.”
