Idaho Asks Judge to Dismiss Pro-Abortion Lawsuit So It Can Keep Protecting Babies From Abortion
An Idaho county judge said last week he would likely rule on a motion to dismiss a lawsuit filed against the State of Idaho by pro-abortion plaintiffs who aim to challenge the “limited scope of the medical exceptions” in Idaho’s pro-life laws.
The pro-choice Center for Reproductive Rights (CRR) in September filed a lawsuit called Adkins v. the State of Idaho on behalf of two physicians, four women, and the Idaho Academy of Family Physicians (IAFP).
The four women all traveled out-of-state for abortions, saying they faced potentially serious health risks if they were to carry their pregnancies to term or that their unborn children would potentially be incompatible with life.
“Plaintiffs respectfully ask this Court for a declaratory judgment clarifying the scope of Idaho’s Medical Exceptions, and granting any and all declaratory or injunctive relief necessary to protect the health and lives of pregnant people in Idaho,” CRR’s lawsuit states.
The suit claims Idaho violated the plaintiffs’ state constitutional right to “enjoy and defend life, pursue happiness, and secure safety” as well as the state’s “guarantee of equal protection under the law.”
During a December 14 hearing, CRR attorney Marc Hearon said: “We’re not asking for an abortion right in the Constitution, but we are asking for rights to patients with serious medical conditions.”
James Craig, a division chief for the Idaho attorney general’s office, made a motion for the county judge to dismiss the case, arguing that the plaintiffs’ argument was based on hypothetical scenarios.
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He also referenced the Idaho Supreme Court’s January ruling that upheld the pro-life laws and affirmed there is no state constitutional right to abortion. “That should make the ruling in this case easy, Craig said, urging the judge to dismiss the lawsuit,” according to AP News:
Craig suggested that since they were no longer facing the pregnancy complications, they should be challenging the state’s law in the Legislature, not the courts. The possibility of similar problems happening again is hypothetical, he said, and hypothetical situations don’t meet the legal standard needed for this kind of lawsuit.
“They’re representing hypothetical fact — hypothetical future scenarios — and asking the court to rule,” Craig said in the hearing, according to AP News. “In that respect, no, they don’t have the right to a declaratory judgment.”
Ada County District Judge Jason Scott said during the hearing that he would likely rule on Craig’s motion to dismiss the case next month.
CRR’s lawsuit against the state of Idaho is one of several cases across the nation challenging pro-life state laws.
CRR also represented Kate Cox in a lawsuit against the state of Texas, a mother who sought an abortion after finding out her unborn child likely had Trisomy 18. The Texas Supreme Court blocked a lower court’s ruling to allow Cox to have an abortion, stating that the lawsuit fails “to establish that Ms. Cox qualifies for the medical exception to Texas’ abortion laws.”
Texas Right to Life reported following the lower court’s initial ruling:
Either Cox qualifies for a medically necessary abortion, in which case her doctor can consult with other physicians at the hospital, or she does no. Medical experts told the court she does not. The group’s lawsuit is intended to increase abortions beyond the scope of current law.
Texas Right to Life also argued that CRR seeks “to conflate two separate issues — the child’s disability and the risk to the mother — in order to use the lawsuit as a gateway to allow babies to be aborted for any reason, not just when the mother’s life is threatened.”
LifeNews Note: McKenna Snow writes for CatholicVote, where this column originally appeared.
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