Idaho
Court Blocks Idaho AG From Prosecuting Doctors For Referring Out-Of-State Abortions
Topline
A federal judge blocked the Idaho attorney general late Monday from prosecuting medical providers who refer patients to get abortions out of state, at least temporarily, ruling the restriction violated doctors’ First Amendment rights as Idaho has taken steps to restrict abortion even beyond the state’s borders.
Idaho Attorney General Raul Labrador, then a candidate, talks with the media during the Republican … [+]
Key Facts
As part of the state’s abortion ban—which was enacted after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in June 2022 and prosecutes medical providers who perform or assist in performing an abortion—Idaho AG Raul Labrador issued an advisory opinion in March that clarified the law includes prosecuting doctors who refer patients to get abortions out of state.
Medical providers sued the state as a result, claiming the provision violated their First Amendment rights, and asked the court to issue an injunction that would block the provision while the case moved forward.
U.S. District Judge B. Lynn Winmill granted the request, blocking Labrador from prosecuting medical providers based on referrals for abortion out of state, though the judge denied a request that asked the court to take similar action against the state’s medical board, ruling the doctors hadn’t sufficiently argued why the court should.
Winmill ruled the provision is likely to harm the medical providers’ First Amendment rights, agreeing with their position that “it impermissibly regulates speech based on content and viewpoint.”
Though the state issued a letter voiding Labrador’s initial advisory opinion in response to the litigation, Winmill ruled that wasn’t enough to take away the threat of prosecution for the physicians, because the letter doesn’t rule out that the state could still take prosecutorial action in the future, and the state still acknowledged in court that it doesn’t disavow what the initial opinion said.
Labrador’s office has not yet responded to a request for comment.
What To Watch For
The lawsuit is still moving forward, and while Winmill’s ruling temporarily blocks the provision about doctors’ referrals out of state, there’s still a possibility it could be put back into effect, either in district court or if the state appeals the ruling. A separate lawsuit is also pending on a different Idaho law that concerns getting abortions out of state, after the state enacted a policy that prohibits people from helping minors travel out of state for abortions.
Crucial Quote
“If the Medical Providers do not prevail in this lawsuit … they will be forced to choose between facing criminal penalties themselves and offering referrals and information about legal out-of-state medicinal services to their patients,” Winmill, who was appointed by President Bill Clinton, ruled. “Simply put, their speech will be chilled.”
Key Background
Idaho is one of approximately a dozen states where abortion has been criminalized in the wake of the Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade. The state is so far the only one that has taken on abortions across state lines in the wake of the high court’s ruling, however, which had become a fear among abortion rights advocates as a possible next step for anti-abortion states. Idaho’s law banning people from helping minors obtain abortions across state lines, enacted in April, was the first of its kind nationwide. (Similar legislation introduced in Missouri in 2022, which would have allowed lawsuits against anyone who helps someone obtain an abortion out of state, failed to pass.) CNN reported in May that Idaho’s heavily restrictive laws are driving doctors to leave the state, with five of the state’s nine full-time maternal-fetal medicine physicians set to leave Idaho by the end of the year.
Further Reading
Idaho becomes one of the most extreme anti-abortion states with law restricting travel for abortions (NBC News)
Idaho’s murky abortion law is driving doctors out of the state (CNN)