Federal judge rules Idaho abortion law unconstitutional

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U.S. District Judge B. Lynn Winmill has ruled that Idaho’s so-called “fetal pain” law is unconstitutional. The law banned abortion in the state after 20 weeks and is based on the belief that a fetus is capable of feeling pain after that period of time.

Windmill wrote that he found “compelling evidence of the legislature’s `improper purpose’ in enacting [the law].”

“The state may not rely on its interest in the potential life of the fetus to place a substantial obstacle to abortion before viability in women’s paths,” he said. “The purpose of the [law’s] categorical ban is to protect the fetus — not the mother. In essence, [the law]embodies a legislative judgment equating viability with 20 weeks’ gestational age, which the Supreme Court expressly forbids.”

The judge also deemed two other abortion laws in Idaho to be unconstitutional. One of them requires first-trimester abortions be performed by a physician in a staffed office or clinic, a law that makes most drug-induced abortions, such as RU-486, illegal. This was the type of abortion the plaintiff, a single mother of three who challenged the law, was arrested for utilizing. The law also applies this same requirement to second-trimester level pregnancies and in certain cases actually criminalizes the woman for undergoing such a procedure.

“Historically, abortion statutes sought to protect pregnant females from third parties providing dangerous abortions,” Winmill wrote. “As a result, most states’ abortion laws traditionally criminalized the behavior of third parties to protect the health of pregnant women – they did not punish women for obtaining an abortion. By punishing women, Idaho’s abortion statute is therefore unusual.”

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