Planned Parenthood Great Northwest, Hawaii, Alaska, Indiana, Kentucky, which operates three abortion clinics in the state, last week asked the court to declare the law unconstitutional after Republican Gov. Brad Little signed it.
Idaho was the first state to pass a law that mirrors that of Texas, which goes into effect in September. This law allows citizens to sue anyone who performs or helps a woman obtain an abortion after approximately six weeks of pregnancy.
Idaho’s law is narrower than Texas’, allowing only parents of a fetus, and not any citizen, to sue medical professionals who perform abortions after fetal heart activity is detected, usually around six weeks of pregnancy.
The law, SB 1309, provides for a minimum compensation of $20,000 and legal fees for litigants.
Like Texas law, it prohibits state officials from enforcing it, a novel feature that has frustrated opponents who attempt to challenge the Texas measure in federal court by suing state officials to prevent its abuse. application.
Planned Parenthood argues that the Idaho law is unconstitutional under Roe v. Wade, the 1973 United States Supreme Court decision that made abortion legal nationwide.
The US Supreme Court now has a 6-3 conservative majority and seemed open during the December proceedings to rolling back or overturning Roe v. Wade by authorizing the 15-week abortion ban in Mississippi.
Planned Parenthood and Little’s office did not respond to requests for comment.