Did you see the new article in the Stranger about our challenge to Idaho’s abortion travel ban?
Megan Burbank, a veteran reproductive health journalist, wastes no time exposing the deception at the center of the law:
In the paranoiac tradition of American anti-abortion policy, the law was rooted in a poorly disguised moral panic: It specifically banned “abortion trafficking”—the fictional concept of shadowy adults coercing minors into having abortions and abducting them to make it happen.”
The tragedy here is that, in attacking a nonexistent problem, the law makes a real problem much worse. Many young people can’t safely talk with their parents about abortion, and it’s essential that they can get help from someone else they trust. But under the abortion travel ban, those helpers could face two to five years in prison for providing assistance. The law makes it a felony to “recruit, harbor, or transport” a young person with the “intent to conceal” an abortion from the young person’s parents.
Thankfully, there already is one piece of good news in this case: We’ve secured a pause on the “recruiting” aspect of the law. That means our clients can continue providing information, encouragement, and financial resources to young people seeking abortion care.
Now, we are waiting to hear whether a federal district court will permanently block the law in full. We will continue to update you as the case progresses.
