The latest move by Idaho lawmakers to restrict access to abortion is heading for the House floor.
Abortions performed after about six weeks would be illegal under the bill. Family members of a fetus aborted after that time could sue the doctor who performed the procedure.
It would only take effect if a similar law, like the one in Texas, is ruled constitutional by a federal appeals court.
Linda Thomas works for Stanton Healthcare, an anti-abortion organization that helps women during pregnancy.
“Abortion is wrong because it violently ends the life of a vulnerable human being on purpose, for profit,” Thomas said.
Supporters said it would save lives, but several people testified against the bill saying it didn’t go far enough.
“This bill is a bastardization of what it means to protect your unborn neighbors,” Sofia Grigg said.
Instead, Grigg said Idaho should ban abortion altogether.
It’s a possibility under a separate trigger law on the books. Adopted in 2020, this law would make abortion a crime except to save a mother’s life or in cases of rape or incest.
The US Supreme Court is currently weighing the constitutionality of a Mississippi law that would ban abortions after 15 weeks. During the closing arguments, several news outlets reported that the judges seemed willing to overturn some precedents set in the 1973 case Roe v. Wade.
For Rep. Chris Mathias (D-Boise), he said he’s concerned about the growing tendency for people to impose their deeply held religious beliefs on everyone in Idaho — including those who show up armed to intimidate lawmakers.
“That’s my biggest concern: are we marching towards a life in Idaho towards this kind of Taliban Christian regime,” Mathias said.
House lawmakers could take up the bill as early as Thursday.
Follow James Dawson on Twitter @RadioDawson for more local news.
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