Legal Voice is thrilled to report that today, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals struck down several provisions of Idaho’s abortion statute as unconstitutional. We filed a friend of the court brief supporting both Jennie Linn McCormack, who was arrested and prosecuted for inducing her own abortion, and a physician who joined the lawsuit challenging the statute.
The provisions in McCormack v. Herzog included a ban on abortions after 20 weeks; a requirement that second-trimester abortions take place in hospitals; and requirements that first trimester abortions take place in a “properly staffed” facility and that the physician make “satisfactory arrangements” with a hospital.
The Ninth Circuit’s ruling is a victory for not only Ms. McCormack, but for the health and humanity of women in Idaho and nationwide. When abortion is stigmatized, unaffordable, criminalized, and regulated nearly out of existence, many women are barred from the care they need.
Thank you to our cooperating counsel, Katie O’Sullivan and Katie Galipeau from Perkins Coie, and our allies National Advocates for Pregnant Women, Center for Reproductive Rights, and Planned Parenthood of the Great Northwest, for helping secure this victory.
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