Two advocacy groups and an attorney who works with sexual assault victims are suing Idaho over a new law that makes it illegal to help minors get an abortion without their parents’ consent.
Abortion is already banned in Idaho at all stages of pregnancy. But the law enacted in May — dubbed a “travel ban” by the advocacy groups and an “abortion trafficking ban” by the lawmakers who passed it — seeks to prevent minors who don’t have parental approval from getting abortions in states where the procedure is legal. Violating the law is a felony, punishable by at least two and up to five years in prison.
The Legal Voice activist group filed the lawsuit in federal court Tuesday on behalf of Nampa attorney Lourdes Matsumoto, the Northwest Abortion Access Fund, and the Indigenous Idaho Alliance. They contend the law is overly vague and violates both their First Amendment right to discuss abortion with minors and their Fourth Amendment right to travel freely between states.
The advocacy groups are asking a judge to declare the law unconstitutional and bar the state from enforcing it.
