20 Democrat AGs Back Suit Against Idaho Law That Stops Trafficking Teens for Secret Abortions

A group of Democrat attorneys general supported a lawsuit Tuesday challenging an Idaho law that protects underage girls from being trafficked across state lines for abortions without their parents’ knowledge.

Washington state Attorney General Bob Ferguson led the amicus brief, signed by 20 Democrat attorneys general, in opposition to the new pro-life law, according to a press release from Ferguson’s office.

“The Constitution protects the individual right to travel between states, and Idaho’s radical Legislature cannot abolish that right,” Ferguson said in a statement. “Washington is standing up for the Constitution and reproductive freedom to support this challenge to Idaho’s unconstitutional abortion travel ban.”

However, the Idaho law does not ban travel. Signed by Republican Gov. Brad Little in April, the legislation protects young victims of human trafficking and sexual abuse by ensuring that their parents are involved if they want – or are being coerced into – an abortion.

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It creates a crime called “abortion trafficking,” which prohibits an “adult who, with the intent to conceal an abortion from the parents or guardian of a pregnant, unemancipated minor, either procures an abortion … or obtains an abortion-inducing drug” for the minor. Anyone found guilty could face up to five years in prison.

Because Idaho protects unborn babies by banning elective abortions, the only way an underage girl could get an abortion would be to be taken to another state or illegally smuggled abortion pills.

Washington state, a neighbor to Idaho, allows abortion on demand on underage girls without their parents’ knowledge or consent, and its Democrat leaders have welcomed women and girls from Idaho to come there for abortions. But pro-life advocates are concerned young Idaho girls are being taken there, potentially by abusers, to abort their unborn babies without their parents’ knowledge.

Since the law passed, pro-abortion activists have been making wildly false claims about it. One Democrat strategist even asserted that the law prohibits all pregnant women from leaving Idaho.

Earlier this month, Legal Voice and several northwestern abortion funds filed a lawsuit claiming the law violates interstate travel, free speech and freedom of association.

Ferguson’s brief supports their case. In the amicus brief, he and 19 other state leaders argue that Idaho is criminalizing legal conduct allowed by other states and preventing girls from receiving “timely medical care.”

Connecticut Attorney General William Tong, who also signed the brief, slammed the law as “draconian” and “blatantly unconstitutional” in a statement Tuesday, FOX 61 News reports. Tong said girls will be harmed if the law is allowed to stay in effect.

But pro-life laws in Idaho do not ban health care; they prohibit the elective and unnecessary killing of unborn babies in abortions. Meanwhile, doctors there continue to provide life-saving miscarriage and pregnancy care to women every day unhindered.

The Idaho anti-trafficking law does not ban interstate travel any more than kidnapping laws do. Rather, it protects young girls from being taken, potentially by force or coercion, to another state to have her unborn baby aborted. Abusers and human traffickers often rely on abortion to cover up their crimes.

Jennifer Popik, J.D., federal legislative director at National Right to Life, explained more about the law in a recent article at the Society of St. Sebastian:

The plain language of the bill says nothing about crossing state lines. Nor does it prevent a minor herself from crossing a state line. It simply prevents an adult from transporting a minor within Idaho for the purpose of obtaining an abortion with the intent to conceal it from her parents. The law also prevents an adult from assisting in procuring an illegal abortion within the state, for example, by obtaining and providing her with chemical abortion drugs within the state.

Further, neither this particular law nor the pro-life movement is attempting to punish a woman or girl. Neither the Idaho law nor any other proposed piece of legislation is attempting to punish or prevent a woman or minor themselves from traveling.

Idaho Attorney General Raúl Labrador’s Office is defending the law.

“While we don’t comment on pending litigation, our office is always prepared to vigorously defend the constitutionality of statutes duly passed by the Legislature,” said Emily Kleinworth, spokesperson for Labrador’s office, told Boise State Public Radio in a statement earlier this month.

The other Democrats who signed the brief in opposition to the law included the attorneys general of Arizona, California, Colorado, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nevada, New Mexico, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island and Washington, D.C.

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