Federal judge puts Idaho's 'abortion trafficking' law on hold during lawsuit
Source: Associated Press
Federal judge puts Idaho’s ‘abortion trafficking’ law on hold during lawsuit
BY REBECCA BOONE
Updated 9:20 PM EST, November 9, 2023
BOISE, Idaho (AP) — A federal judge has temporarily blocked Idaho’s “abortion trafficking” law from being enforced while a lawsuit challenging its constitutionality is underway.
“This lawsuit is not about the right to an abortion. It is about much more,” U.S. District Magistrate Debora K. Grasham wrote in the ruling handed down Wednesday. “Namely, long-standing and well recognized fundamental rights of freedom of speech, expression, due process, and parental rights. These are not competing rights, nor are they at odds.”
Abortion is banned in Idaho at all stages of pregnancy, and the law enacted in May was designed to prevent minors from getting abortions in states where the procedure is legal if they don’t have their parents’ permission. Under the law, people who help a minor who isn’t their own child arrange an abortion out of state can be charged with a felony, though they can then attempt to defend themselves in court later by proving that the minor had parental permission for the trip.
Supporters of the law call it an “abortion trafficking” ban. Opponents say it is an unconstitutional prohibition on interstate travel and free speech rights.
-snip-
Read more: https://apnews.com/article/idaho-abortion-trafficking-travel-ban-270a403d7b4a5e99e566433556614728
= new reply since forum marked as read
That's because it IS an unconstitutional prohibition on interstate travel and free speech rights!
It's as unconstitutional as hell, as are any other red state attempts to restrict where their residents can travel and what they can do when they get there. I suspect a lot of red state legislatures realize that, which is probably why more of them haven't bothered passing a law like the one in Idaho.
To the lawmakers in the Idaho statehouse: Dudes, for you have any idea how ridiculous this law is making you look? (Rhetorical question, they obviously don't,) There's this document called the US Constitution that you need to read. Among other things, it says you get to make laws about what people can do in your state. What you don't get to do is restrict where your residents can go if they want to do a thing you've outlawed that is 100% legal elsewhere.
Idiots.
