BOISE, Idaho (AP) — An abortion in Idaho is not prohibited if pregnancy complications could cause a woman’s death, even if that death “is neither imminent nor assured,” a state judge said Friday in a ruling that loosens one of the strictest abortion bans in the U.S.
Four women have sued over Idaho’s strict abortion bans. The women, who are represented by the Center for Reproductive Rights, aren’t asking for the state’s abortion ban to be overturned. Instead, they want the judge to clarify and expand the exceptions to the strict ban so people facing serious pregnancy complications can receive abortions before they are at death’s door.
A representative for the Idaho attorney general’s office didn’t immediately respond to an email seeking comment on the ruling.
The state’s near-total ban currently makes performing an abortion a felony at any stage of pregnancy unless it is “necessary to prevent the death of the pregnant woman.”
Judge Jason Scott issued the ruling broadening the medical exception to the ban, allowing doctors to perform an abortion if “good faith medical judgment” shows a patient with an existing medical condition or pregnancy complication faces a risk of dying at some point without an abortion.
The Center for Reproductive Rights said while people in dire circumstances will able to receive abortion care in Idaho, pregnant people with lethal fetal conditions don’t qualify unless the condition also poses a risk to the mother’s life.
“Pregnant Idahoans whose health is in danger shouldn’t be forced to remain pregnant, and we are glad the court recognized that today. But this decision leaves behind so many people, including some of the women who brought this case,” said Gail Deady, a center staff attorney. “No one should have to choose between carrying a doomed pregnancy against their will or fleeing the state if they can.”
The center noted the judge’s ruling also prevents people at risk of death from self-harm due to mental health conditions from accessing abortion care.
“It’s been an emotional rollercoaster hearing this decision,” plaintiff Jennifer Adkins said. “This cruel law turned our family tragedy into an unimaginable trauma. No one wants to learn that your baby has a deadly condition and will not survive, and that your own life is at risk on top of that.”
