Seyb v. Labrador Establishing a Constitutional Right to Abortion for Medical Reasons

Current Status

On August 13, 2026, a district court in Idaho ruled that the U.S. Constitution protects the right to abortion care where there is a risk of serious and lasting harm to the health of the pregnant woman or where an abortion is necessary to prevent death from self-harm. That ruling was narrowed on August 25, 2026, to apply to the plaintiff in our case, Dr. Stacy Seyb. And on October 30, 2026, an emergency panel of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals put the district court’s ruling on hold while the case is being appealed.

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Contact

Legal Voice Communications
media@legalvoice.org

Background

Idaho’s Abortion Bans

Idaho has two abortion bans: a ban throughout pregnancy and a ban beginning at six weeks of pregnancy.

These strict bans offer some exceptions for medical emergencies, rape, and incest. However, these exceptions are largely meaningless. They’re narrow, vague, or have unworkable requirements. As a result, it’s difficult to know how to follow the law or enforce it.

In truth, all exceptions are based on a false premise: that there are “good” and “bad” reasons to seek an abortion. Everyone deserves access to abortion care without judgment or stigma, regardless of their reason for getting care. The ability to make decisions about pregnancy and parenthood is vital to a person’s dignity, equality, self-determination, and religious liberty.

Our Case

Our lawsuit challenges one aspect of Idaho’s abortion bans: their limited exceptions for “medically indicated” abortion care. That’s when a patient is seeking to end their pregnancy for a medical reason.

Right now, becoming pregnant in Idaho means gambling with your health. There are many medical conditions that may require an abortion, but there’s no guarantee that care is available.

You might have an underlying health condition that worsens. You might have challenges with mental illness. You might need cancer treatment. You might need an organ transplant. You might learn that your fetus has no chance of surviving after birth.

To get the abortion care you need, you may be forced to travel hundreds of miles away from home. That trip will likely incur high logistical, financial, familial, and emotional costs. If you can’t afford those costs, then you may go without care altogether.

In addition to harming pregnant people, Idaho’s bans hurt healthcare providers and the public at large. Because providers can’t be sure if they’re complying with the law, they’re afraid to provide any kind of abortion care. And since they can’t serve their patients, many are fleeing the state. Idaho has lost numerous maternal-fetal medicine specialists and one third of its OB-GYNs, and three hospitals have stopped providing labor and delivery services entirely.

Our Argument

Medically indicated abortion care — including for patients with mental health conditions that put them at risk of suicide and overdose — is a fundamental right protected by the United States Constitution. It is a specific application of the fundamental rights to life and health, which are deeply rooted in our nation’s history and tradition. Only recently have a handful of states like Idaho sought to deny abortion access to pregnant people facing serious threats to their health and lives.

Co-Counsel

Legal Voice

Legal Voice is a nonprofit that fights for gender justice through impact litigation, policy advocacy, education, and coalition building. Founded in Seattle in 1978, it now has staff in Washington, Idaho, and Montana.

The Lawyering Project

The Lawyering Project works to improve abortion access and uphold the rights and dignity of people seeking and providing reproductive health care.

Plaintiff

Stacy Seyb, M.D.

Dr. Seyb is a physician licensed to practice medicine in Idaho. He is board-certified in maternal-fetal medicine, which focuses on providing care to people with high-risk or complicated pregnancies. From 2019 to 2023, Dr. Seyb served on Idaho’s Maternal Mortality Review Committee. Since April 2000, he has served as an attending physician in maternal-fetal medicine at St. Luke’s, a hospital in Boise.

Idaho’s abortion bans prevent him from providing appropriate care to his patients. He’s suing on behalf of himself and his pregnant patients.

Defendants

Defendant

Ada County Prosecuting Attorney

Defendant-Intervenor

Attorney General Raúl Labrador

“The health of my patients is my first priority when I’m practicing medicine. Idaho’s abortion bans not only threaten health care providers like me with criminal prosecution, but they jeopardize the health and lives of pregnant people throughout the state. Because of these cruel laws, my patients have been forced to travel outside Idaho to obtain potentially life-saving health care, sometimes on an emergency basis by helicopter, further endangering their health in an already dire situation.”

— Stacy Seyb, MD

“The Supreme Court’s decision overturning Roe v. Wade is both wrong as a matter of law and profoundly harmful to the rights and dignity of millions of people. But by its own terms, it does not extend to medically indicated abortions, which continue to be constitutionally protected. This lawsuit aims to clarify that the state cannot interfere with the ability of pregnant Idaho residents to obtain treatment for their serious medical needs.”

— Stephanie Toti, Executive Director of the Lawyering Project

“For years, Idahoans with medical concerns have been unable to get the reproductive health care they are entitled to. Legal Voice is proud to be a part of the effort to ensure that Idahoans with medical concerns will be able to access the treatment they need to live healthier lives.”

— Kelly O’Neill, Legal Voice Idaho Litigation Attorney