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Tuesday, April 04, 2023

Idaho extremism is news again; headline, "Bill to criminalize help for Idaho minors’ abortions passes" By REBECCA BOONE, Associated Press, Updated March 30, 2023.

 An AP report. Carried by Seattle PI, stating in opening:

BOISE, Idaho (AP) — A bill that would criminalize helping minors obtain an abortion without parental consent won final passage in Idaho's legislature on Thursday and is headed to the desk of Republican Gov. Brad Little.

The measure would be the first of its kind in the U.S. It seeks to restrict travel by creating the crime of “ abortion trafficking ” and would bar adults from obtaining abortion pills for a minor or “recruiting, harboring or transporting the pregnant minor” without the consent of the minor's parent or guardian.

Anyone convicted of breaking the law would face two to five years in prison and could also be sued by the minor's parent or guardian. Parents who raped their child would not be able to sue, though the criminal penalties for anyone who helped the minor obtain an abortion would remain in effect.

To sidestep violating a constitutional right to travel between states, Idaho’s law would make illegal only the in-state segment of a trip to an out-of-state abortion provider.

Once it lands on his desk, the governor will have five days to either sign or veto the bill or allow it to become law without his signature. Little is against abortion and has supported Idaho’s stringent abortion bans.

Opponents are promising a legal battle if the bill becomes law.

“Whether it comes from us or one of our coalition partners, there will be a legal challenge,” Mack Smith, a spokesperson for Planned Parenthood Alliance Advocates, said. “We definitely will be fighting this with everything that we’ve got. There is just absolutely no way that this is constitutional.”

Idaho is one of 13 states that already effectively ban abortion in all stages of pregnancy, and is one of a handful of states that already have laws penalizing those who help people of any age obtain abortions.

Further,

 The legislation would give the attorney general the authority to prosecute people for violating the law if the county prosecutor, which would normally handle criminal cases, declines to press charges.

People accused of abortion trafficking wouldn't necessarily be able to avoid charges by showing that the minor's parent approved of the travel. Instead, they would be able to use that information as an “affirmative defense" by attempting to prove in court that the minors' parents or guardians signed off on the plan.

For any readers interested in the full story, the item expands its event coverage significantly, with that link the same as was given in opening the post. 

Good ol' Idaho. Where the good ol' boys organized and held group mask burnings during the Covid days because they wanted to make a statement about themselves.