Idaho is allowed to enforce the “abortion trafficking” law

An appeals court has partially upheld an Idaho law that penalizes adults for helping minors in other states where abortion is legal.

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled earlier this week that the state’s House Bill 242 could be enforced while a lawsuit against it continued, overturning an earlier decision that blocked the law from taking effect. However, the court blocked a provision in the legislation that vaguely prohibited the “recruitment” of pregnant teenagers for abortions.

“Encouragement, advice and emotional support are clearly protected speech,” the court wrote, ABC reported, even “in the context of the decision to have an abortion.” The provision is unconstitutional “because it prohibits a significant portion of protected expression.”

Idaho’s law, the first of its kind in the country, threatens two to five years in prison for “an adult who procures an abortion with the intent to conceal an abortion from the parents or guardian of a pregnant, incapacitated minor… “. or obtains an abortion drug for the pregnant minor to be used for an abortion by recruiting, harboring, or transporting the pregnant minor within this state commits the crime of trafficking in abortion.”

The lawsuit challenging the legislation was first filed in 2023 by nonprofits Northwest Abortion Access Fund and the Indigenous Idaho Alliance. Wendy Heipt, an attorney representing the groups, told local newspaper the Idaho Capitol Sun that “this decision is a significant victory for the plaintiffs because it gives Idahoans the freedom to discuss abortion health care with pregnant minors.” “

Idaho has a near-total ban on abortion, prohibiting care at any stage of pregnancy except in cases of medical emergencies or rape and incest, provided a police report of the crime is provided. Abortion is legal in most of Idaho’s neighboring states, including Washington, Oregon and Montana. Washington allows minors to receive care without parental permission, and Oregon requires parental permission for those under 15.

Tennessee passed a similar ban on “abortion trafficking,” which was blocked in September after a judge also found that “recruitment” bans violated the First Amendment.