Idaho Becomes First State to Enact Abortion Ban Modeled After Texas Law

Idaho made history on Monday by passing a law resembling Texas’ innovative abortion legislation, allowing private citizens to enforce a ban on abortions after around six weeks of pregnancy. The Republican-led Idaho House approved the bill with a vote of 51-14 and sent it to Governor Brad Little, who has previously signed a separate law restricting abortion. The bill reflects growing confidence among anti-abortion activists and lawmakers nationwide, as both sides anticipate potential changes to or the overturning of Roe v. Wade by the Supreme Court this summer.

Sponsors of the Idaho bill expressed encouragement, citing Texas’ success in utilizing private citizens to prevent abortions. Representative Steven Harris, the bill’s co-sponsor, emphasized the effectiveness of Texas’ approach, which has already faced legal challenges but succeeded in halting abortions.

The Idaho bill, although similar to the Texas law, has some distinctions. It permits family members, termed “a preborn child,” to sue abortion providers, offering a minimum reward of $20,000, plus legal fees, and allowing lawsuits within four years of an abortion. Unlike the strict Texas law, Idaho provides an exception for victims of rape or incest but requires women to file a police report, which they must show to the provider before obtaining an abortion. Notably, neither state would prosecute women who have an abortion.

Last year, anticipating the likely unconstitutionality of an abortion restriction, Idaho attached a trigger to a law criminalizing abortion after fetal cardiac activity, delaying its effect until an appellate court upheld a similar law elsewhere.

Despite Idaho’s attorney general warning of potential constitutional violations, Governor Little, who opposes abortion and previously signed the trigger law, could sign the new bill into law, making it effective 30 days later.

The bill allows various family members, including the mother, grandparents, siblings, aunts, uncles, and the father, to sue. Representative Lauren Necochea, a Democrat opposing the bill, questioned whether the siblings of a rapist could sue an abortion provider, to which Mr. Harris, the co-sponsor, indicated that they could. Necochea criticized the bill, calling it “not clever, it’s absurd.”

Abortion rates in Texas have reportedly dropped 60 percent since the law took effect, leading to increased demand for abortion in neighboring states. Oklahoma is also contemplating its own six-week abortion ban. Planned Parenthood expressed opposition and plans to lobby against the bill in Idaho.