Idaho Judge Allows Lawsuit Requesting Clarification on Exemptions to State Abortion Ban

by Karen Faulkner, Worthy News Correspondent

(Worthy News) – An Idaho court has denied a request by the State Attorney General to dismiss a lawsuit filed by several doctors and four formerly pregnant women who are seeking clarification of the exemptions to the state’s broad abortion ban, the Associated Press reports.

State Attorney General Raul Labrador argued there was no need for clarification as the Idaho Supreme Court had already ruled Idaho’s constitution does not provide a fundamental right to abortion.

The four women were each denied an abortion in Idaho although they were informed that their pregnancies were unlikely to go to term, that their fetuses were unlikely to survive birth, and that they were at risk of serious harm through medical complications if their pregnancy continued, AP reports. The women traveled to Oregon or Washington to terminate their pregnancies.

On Friday, 4th District Judge Jason Scott agreed with Labrador that the Idaho Supreme Court had indeed ruled there was no fundamental right to abortion inside the state constitution, AP reports.

However, Scott said, Idaho’s high court had not rejected “every conceivable as applied challenge that might be made in a future case.”

Refusing Labrador’s request to dismiss the lawsuit, Scott said the case should focus only on the circumstances where an abortion would be allowed and whether abortion care in emergency situations applies to Idaho’s state constitutional right to enjoy and defend life and the right to secure safety, AP reports.

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