"Banning abortion wasn't enough for anti-abortion extremists in Idaho; they now want to ban where you go, what information you're legally allowed to obtain, and even what healthcare providers can say."Idaho Gov. Brad Little on Wednesday made his state the first in the U.S. to restrict interstate travel for abortion care by signing legislation that aims to prevent minors from traveling to obtain an abortion without parental consent.
The law defines a perpetrator of"abortion trafficking" as"an adult who, with the intent to conceal an abortion from the parents or guardian of a pregnant, unemancipated minor, either procures an abortion... or obtains an abortion-inducing drug for the pregnant minor to use for an abortion by recruiting, harboring, or transporting the pregnant minor within this state commits the crime of abortion trafficking.
"It shall not be an affirmative defense to a prosecution... that the abortion provider or the abortion-inducing drug provider is located in another state," the measure's text states.the law, which would empower Idaho's Republican attorney general to override local prosecutors if they refuse to enforce the restrictions, does not bar adults from traveling to obtain abortion care for themselves.
Current Idaho law bans nearly all abortions, meaning the new measure will, in practice, impact those traveling within Idaho to assist a pregnant minor in obtaining abortion medication from out of state and those crossing state lines to help a minor receive abortion care.