Federal Judge Temporarily Blocks Enforcement of Idaho's 'Abortion Trafficking' Law Amid Constitutional Lawsuit

Judge Debora K. Grasham addresses issues beyond abortion rights, including freedom of speech and rights of due process, in the controversial law blocking minors from out-of-state abortions without parental consent.

• U.S. District Magistrate Debora K. Grasham has temporarily put Idaho’s controversial 'abortion trafficking' law on hold while a lawsuit challenging its constitutionality is ongoing.
• The law makes it a felony for people to assist a minor (who is not their own child) in getting an abortion out of state without parental consent.
• The state of Idaho already bans all stages of abortion. The new law aims to discourage residents from traveling out-of-state for abortions where it is legal.
• Two advocacy groups (the Northwest Abortion Access Fund and the Indigenous Idaho Alliance) and attorney Lourdes Matsumoto sued the state, arguing the law is vague, and infringes on the First Amendment right to free expression and Fourth Amendment right to travel between states.
• Grasham, while dismissing claims related to intra-state travel, allowed the other arguments to move forward, emphasizing the balance between free expression, due process, and parental rights.
• As an example of the law's implications, prosecutors in Idaho recently charged a woman and her son with second-degree kidnapping for allegedly taking the son’s minor girlfriend out of state to get an abortion without the parents' consent.

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