Measure would make it illegal for adults to transport minors to another state for an abortion without parents’ knowledge
From the Moscow-Pullman Daily News:
BOISE — The Idaho House State Affairs Committee passed a bill Friday making it illegal for an adult to transport a minor across state lines for an abortion, with the intent to conceal it from the parents or guardians of the minor. The penalty under the legislation would be between two and five years in state prison.
One person testified in favor and one testified against HB 242; the bill’s opponent argued it would put vulnerable young people who are seeking help at risk, especially those who are in abusive families.
Reps. Barbara Ehardt, R-Idaho Falls, and Kevin Andrus, R-Lava Hot Springs, sponsored HB 242, which creates a definition and criminal penalty for “abortion trafficking.”
“You will find that this is a parental rights bill,” Ehardt told the committee.
The majority of the introduction of the bill to the committee was done by Megan Wold, a lobbyist for Right to Life Idaho, instead of the bill’s sponsors. Ehardt said Wold could speak to the issue as an expert.
Wold said that underaged girls who become pregnant from an adult are at risk of the man seeking to obtain a “secret abortion” to hide abuse.
“This is a real problem and adults who engage in this type of behavior deserve to be criminally punished,” Wold said.
Under the bill, the Idaho attorney general would have the authority to prosecute someone in violation. If someone was charged under this legislation, there would be an affirmative defense for if the minor received parental consent before traveling for the abortion.
David Ripley, executive director of Idaho Chooses Life, called the bill “extraordinarily righteous.”
He said he’d heard rumors about national organizations arranging for transport of women and girls across state lines for abortions. He noted that the state can’t prevent adults from traveling to receive an abortion, but there is an interest in protecting the rights of minors’ parents.