Idaho Gov. Brad Little (R) signed a bill into law Wednesday that makes it a crime for an adult to help a minor obtain an abortion without parental consent, including by traveling to a state where abortion is legal.
The new law brands such involvement by adults as “abortion trafficking.” With a near-total abortion ban already in place in Idaho, the legislation, passed by Republican state legislators, makes Idaho the first state to make it illegal for minors to seek an out-of-state abortion when their parents aren’t involved.
Abortion rights advocates have vowed to fight the law, opening another front in the battle over abortion rights in one of the states that moved swiftly to enact bans after the June 2022 overturning of Roe v. Wade. A court battle is also likely over whether Idaho medical providers are banned from giving a woman a referral for abortion in another state, something Planned Parenthood sued Idaho Attorney General Raúl R. Labrador over Wednesday.
Little signed the abortion law the day after approving legislation that bans gender-affirming care for transgender youths and makes it a felony for doctors to provide such care to minors. Together, the new laws criminalize help from adults for minors who seek gender- or abortion-related care. They come as Republican-led states across the nation tighten restrictions on abortion access and gender-affirming care.
The American Civil Liberties Union plans to sue to block the transgender-care law.
In both cases, Little has said the laws aim to protect children. The governor told lawmakers in a letter that the abortion bill “seeks only to prevent unemancipated minor girls from being taken across state lines for an abortion without the knowledge and consent of her parent or guardian,” not to block interstate travel or adult out-of-state abortions.
An adult convicted of breaking the law will face two to five years in prison, and the minor’s parents and siblings can sue, as can the person who impregnated the minor and children of the minor.
Even in cases of rape, someone who helps a minor obtain an abortion can be charged, the Associated Press reported, though the person who raped the minor can’t sue under the law.
According to Planned Parenthood, the majority of girls who become pregnant do consult their parents. By criminalizing assistance for those who want to conceal an abortion from their parents, advocates say, the law is targeting young adults who may be most vulnerable — seeking an abortion because they are “in dangerous, abusive situations,” Planned Parenthood Alliance Advocates West said on Twitter.
The law criminalizes the part of the trip that happens within Idaho: Anyone who helps a minor obtain an abortion or abortion pill by “recruiting, harboring, or transporting the pregnant minor within this state commits the crime of abortion trafficking,” House Bill 242 reads.
Critics questioned the constitutionality of a state effectively punishing people for travel to another state.
“All Idahoans should be paying attention to this extreme attempt at government overreach to control our movements in and out of the state of Idaho,” Rebecca Gibron, CEO of Planned Parenthood Great Northwest, Hawai‘i, Alaska, Indiana, Kentucky, said in a statement.
In his letter, Little said the law “does not criminalize, preclude, or otherwise impair interstate travel.”
State Rep. Barbara Ehardt (R), one of the measure’s sponsors, championed it as a “parental rights” bill.
“What we want to make sure of is that parents are the ones who are in charge of their children,” she told HuffPost.
Ehardt’s office did not immediately respond to a request from The Washington Post on Thursday morning.
A spokesperson for the governor did not answer questions from The Post about the new law, but emailed a statement that doesn’t mention the measure:
“Governor Little is busy wrapping up a successful legislative session marked by historic investments in teacher pay, workforce training, and critical infrastructure while delivering even more tax relief for hardworking Idaho families and businesses.”
Idaho Senate Minority Leader Melissa Wintrow (D) has decried the measure, telling The Post last week that it “cheapens the term ‘human trafficking’ and that’s shameful.”
“Human trafficking is a terrible crime where one person takes another person against their will,” said Wintrow, who did not immediately respond to a Thursday request for comment.
Planned Parenthood Alliance Advocates West said on Twitter that the organization would fight the law.
“This legislation is despicable, and we’re going to do everything in our power to stop it,” the organization tweeted. “Idaho lawmakers have slipped under the radar with some of the strictest antiabortion laws in the country. Now, they’re using an incredibly serious term like trafficking to talk about young people traveling with trusted adults to access a legal procedure in another state.”