The appeals court upholds most of Idaho’s laws protecting minors from the abortion trade

A federal appeals court ruled Monday that Idaho can partially enforce its law banning the trafficking of minors from the state for abortion. However, it blocked the part of the law that prohibits “recruiting” minors for an abortion.

The three-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals lifted a November 2023 preliminary injunction from U.S. Magistrate Judge Debora Grashams that had blocked the law entirely.

Idaho law prohibits any adult from “recruiting, harboring, or transporting a minor across state lines for an abortion” without parental consent. Violators face two to five years in prison. It was challenged shortly after its passage in 2023 in a lawsuit by two abortion advocates who argued that the law violated free speech by threatening prosecution if they advised minors to get abortions out of state.

The district court judges upheld the law’s ban on the “accommodation and transportation” of minors, saying that this section did not violate any rights, but struck down the “solicitation” ban on the grounds that it violated freedom of expression.

“Encouragement, advice and emotional support are clearly protected speech under Supreme Court precedent, even when offered in the difficult context of deciding whether to have an abortion,” District Judge M Margaret McKeown wrote for the majority.

Both pro-life and pro-abortion groups celebrated the court’s ruling as a victory.

“This decision is a significant victory for the plaintiffs because it gives Idahoans the freedom to discuss abortion health care with pregnant minors,” said the pro-abortion group Legal Voice, which represented the plaintiffs.

“This is a tremendous victory for Idaho and the defense of the rule of law as written by the people’s representatives,” Attorney General Raúl Labrador said in a news release. “Trafficking a minor child for an abortion without parental consent puts both at great risk, and we will not stop protecting life in Idaho.”

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