Idaho Has Made It A Felony To Help A Minor Travel Out Of State For An Abortion

The state of Idaho has become the first state in the country to restrict minors from seeking abortion care in a different state. Republican Idaho Gov. Brad Little signed a bill into law on Wednesday that would make it a felony crime for an adult to help a minor travel out of state to obtain an abortion without parental consent. Anyone found guilty of “abortion trafficking,” as the legislation has deemed it, could face two to five years in prison.

House Bill 242 defines 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.” This means that any adult who aids a minor under 18 still under parental authority with an abortion without their parent’s consent, whether by procuring an abortion pill or taking them out of state, could be sentenced to two to five years in prison if found guilty under the new law.

Gov. Lee noted in a letter that this does not prevent adults from traveling out of state to seek an abortion. “The ‘abortion trafficking’ provision in the 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,” he said. This law goes into effect 30 days after signing.

The new law means that any adult, whether it be a grandmother picking up abortion-inducing medication from a post office or an adult friend offering a minor in need a ride across state lines for critical abortion care, could face jail time in the state of Idaho.

In addition to uncertainties about how this law would affect medical privacy for minors, the state’s strict abortion laws have also had ramifications for medical providers in the state. One hospital in Idaho had to make the “difficult decision” to stop offering maternal care recently, in part due to loss of pediatric staff and the state’s restrictive abortion laws. The state of Idaho upheld a 2020 law that criminalized abortion in almost all cases, meaning medical providers faced criminal charges and jail time if they were found to have provided abortion care to patients.

In response to the new abortion trafficking law in Idaho, both the ACLU and Planned Parenthood issued statements announcing their intent to sue the state.

“This bill criminalizes an adult assisting a young person accessing abortion care with the intent of concealing the abortion from their parent. While most young people include their parents in the decision to get an abortion, some are in dangerous, abusive situations,” Planned Parenthood tweeted Wednesday. “Idaho lawmakers have slipped under the radar with some of the strictest anti-abortion 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.”

The ACLU called out Idaho Attorney General Labrador’s interpretation of the law in a statement, writing, “Attorney General Labrador’s interpretation of current Idaho law to criminalize doctors for providing essential abortion medical care and information is yet another egregious attempt to weaponize health care for people in our state. It is unconstitutional, immoral, and blatant government interference in the patient-doctor relationship. We stand firmly in opposition to this radical interpretation of the law and are going to court to affirm the rights of Idahoans.”