This State Is Banning Interstate Travel for Abortion by Calling it ‘Abortion Trafficking’ | Abortion
If adults help minors cross state lines without their parents’ permission, they are guilty of the newly invented crime and face years in prison.
Idaho’s Republican governor, Brad Little, signed a bill Wednesday that makes it illegal for adults to help minors get abortions without their parents’ consent—making Idaho the first state to countries that have passed interstate travel bans for abortions since Roe v. Wade was withdrawn last year.
Almost all abortions are already banned in Idaho, but this first-of-its-kind law makes it a crime to help minors access abortion pills or leave Idaho for legal abortions in other states. Washington and Oregon, two of Idaho’s neighbors, have more liberal abortion laws.
If adults help minors cross state lines without their parents’ permission, they are guilty of the new crime of “abortion trafficking” and face two to five years in prison. They can also be sued by the minor’s parent or guardian. The law is set to take effect in 30 days.
“This law is abhorrent, and we will do everything in our power to stop it,”
Planned Parenthood Alliance Advocates-West tweeted Wednesday. “They use incredibly serious terms like trafficking to talk about young people traveling with trusted adults to access a legal procedure in another state.”
“While most young people are with their parents in the decision to have an abortion, some are in dangerous, abusive situations,” the group added.
In a letter on Wednesday, Little pushed the idea that the law prohibits interstate travel for an abortion. Instead, he said, it only prevents unaccompanied minors from being “transported across state lines without the knowledge and consent of his or her parent or guardian.”
A family law attorney warned the little one that, because the bill doesn’t define who qualifies as a “parent,” it could lead to “legal chaos,” The Seattle Times reported. For example, a non-custodial parent can prevent them from having an abortion, even if a custodial parent wants to allow it.
Since the Supreme Court overturned Roe, anti-abortion activists have floated the idea of trying to ban people from crossing state lines for abortions, which they call “abortion tourism.” But even some abortion foes have questioned whether following that policy would set the movement back. “There is a constitutional right to travel,” Steve Aden, chief legal officer for Americans United For Life, told VICE News last year.
Apart from Wednesday, Planned Parenthood Great Northwest sued Idaho Attorney General Raúl Labrador after Labrador issued a legal opinion aimed at barring Idaho providers from referring people for out-of-state abortions. That opinion threatens providers’ free speech rights, according to the lawsuit.
Idaho is already seeing the consequences of its politicians cracking down. Last month, one hospital announced that it would stop labor and delivery services because so many doctors were leaving the hospital. they are leaving, the hospital said in a statementbecause of Idaho’s “legal and political climate.”
“The Idaho Legislature continues to introduce and pass bills that criminalize physicians for medical care that is nationally recognized as the standard of care,” the hospital said.
Source: https://www.vice.com/en/article/y3wg9g/idaho-interstate-travel-abortion-ban
