BOISE, Idaho — A federal judge says Idaho can’t prosecute doctors who perform abortions to protect a pregnant person’s health or prevent self-harm.

U.S. District Judge B. Lynn Winmill made the ruling Thursday, writing that Idaho’s “Defense of Life Act” and “Fetal Heartbeat Act” — which together create a near-total ban on abortion — violate the due process and equal protection clauses of the 14th Amendment. Physicians who violate the laws can lose their license and face up to five years in prison.

Both laws include narrow exceptions, including abortions done to prevent the death of a pregnant woman or in some cases of rape or incest where the pregnant person has filed a police report.

The case isn’t about bodily autonomy or reproductive choice, Winmill wrote in the 81-page decision, but rather the “limit of the state’s power to make a woman suffer for the sake of an unborn child.”

The state can’t pick and choose which life-threatening conditions justify abortion, he wrote.

“A pregnant woman’s health is not a state resource to be allocated at the legislature’s whim,” Winmill wrote.

Idaho’s attorney general plans to appeal

Dr. Stacy Seyb, a Boise maternal-fetal medicine specialist who sued over the law in 2024, said the ruling will allow him to practice medicine without fear of prosecution, and to offer patients with serious medical conditions the option of ending a pregnancy without having to leave the state.

Idaho Attorney General Raul Labrador said he would appeal, and is “confident this decision will be overturned.”

“The Supreme Court made clear that abortion policy belongs to the people and their elected representatives, not a single federal judge,” Labrador wrote in a statement.

Advertisement

A doctor says the ban forced patients out of state

In the lawsuit, Seyb said he wanted to provide abortions to patients facing serious health risks, including those at high risk of self-harm from mental illnesses. He also said he should be able to provide abortions when the fetus has been diagnosed with a fatal or grave condition, when a miscarriage is inevitable, or in multi-fetal pregnancies where reducing the number of fetuses would increase the likelihood that the others would survive.

Attorneys for county prosecutors and the Idaho Attorney General argued that Seyb misunderstood the state’s abortion ban, and that the ban already allows most health-preserving abortions. But Winmill said there is a gap between life-saving abortions and abortions performed to prevent non-lethal harm, and noted that Seyb said he has to refer patients in that gap to other states for care — including several with grave pregnancy complications who had to be flown to Utah for treatment.

Judge: Idaho can’t force women to bear permanent damage for a fetus

Winmill said just like the state can’t force a mother to donate a kidney to her toddler, it can’t force a pregnant woman to suffer serious harm for a fetus.

The judge also said there is no reason to treat mental illness differently than other health conditions. Barring a pregnant woman from life-saving care for mental illness threats is “an affront to human dignity,” Winmill wrote.

Seyb noted suicide and overdose are among the leading causes of death for pregnant and post-partum people in the U.S., and that between 2018 and 2021 mental health conditions were the most common underlying cause of maternal death in Idaho according to the state’s Maternal Mortality Review Committee.

Advertisement

In cases where there is no elevated health risk for the mother — including situations where the fetus will die shortly after birth or in multi-gestation pregnancies where aborting one fetus will help the others survive — there is no fundamental right at stake, Winmill found.

That’s because in these cases, the law is rationally related to the state’s interest in preventing abortions based on mistaken fetal diagnoses and affirming the dignity of people with profound disabilities, Winmill wrote.

And physicians could still face civil penalties for performing abortions under another state law, which allows extended family members of an aborted fetus to sue the provider for at least $20,000.

Abortion is on the ballot this fall in Idaho and other states

Idaho voters will decide this fall whether to roll back the state’s abortion ban. If approved, the voter-led initiative would allow abortion until fetal viability, which is generally considered to be after 21 weeks.

Voters in Virginia and Nevada, where abortion is legal through at least 24 weeks, will consider state constitutional amendments creating a right to abortion. In Missouri, voters are being asked to override a constitutional amendment passed in 2024 in order to bring back an abortion ban.

Photocard exchanges, language lessons, and dance lessons. Those are just a few of the hallmarks of the K-Pop community and it’s made its way to Idaho.

Idaho is known for its rural landscapes, country music and western traditions. But the K-Pop community, fans of the now global Korean pop genre, is making inroads in the state.

“We’ve seen people who are grandmas bringing their grandchildren and grandmas are more excited than the grandchildren to be there. And kids bringing their parents, the kids are excited, people of all races that are excited to be there, all genders,” said Madison Park, the Vice President of Idaho K-Pop Stans.

She said the community grew on Facebook as K-Pop lovers united to host fun events.

“We kind of felt like that was missing here in Idaho. Lots of other places like LA and Seattle, always have these events and we wanted to bring it here.”

Since then, the group has held monthly events with hundreds of attendees and is hosting the first Idaho Korean Festival this weekend.

“I would love for everyone to leave with admiration of Korean culture and learn something new that they didn’t know and hopefully want to join us again for next year.”

The festival will take place this Saturday at Julia Davis Park in Boise, starting at 10 a.m.

The group also hosts cup sleeve events.

“People will go to a cafe and to celebrate the K-Pop idols birthday and you know, they get the cup sleeve. They usually get like little like stickers and things like that. Photocards to go with their order.”

Other activities include random play dances (RPD), where members play snippets of K-pop songs and dance to the choreography. The most recent RPD took place at the Boise Mall.

“It was super cool to see everyone in the mall watching and they were like, oh, what is this?”

They also host formal dance classes at Studio Unlimited.

“People can come at any skill level and just feel free to dance and not stress about whether it’s going to be perfect or not.”

For more laid-back activities, the group watches movies and makes crafts.

“We’ll usually have some things to make bracelets and things like that and ask people to kind of do like a potluck, bring some food, we’ll play K-Pop music and just give everyone a chance to make some friends and talk about K-pop.”

The group has also served the local community.

“In Korea, a lot of K-pop fans will actually fundraise in the names of K-Pop groups and then donate in the name of K-pop groups.”

The group successfully raised money for the West Valley Humane Society in Boise.

“I’m going to raise money for them in the name of BTS and let’s see how much we can donate. And people were very generous.”

She said people interested in joining can join their Facebook and Instagram community to keep up with upcoming events.

The Western Idaho Fair is getting ready to open its gates, with opening day also marking CBS2 Day at the fair.

From noon to 4 p.m., fairgoers who bring a non-perishable food item can receive free admission. Donations will help support the Boise food pantry and stock its shelves for people in the community.

Western Idaho Fair Director Helen Baker said the partnership is especially meaningful because it happens alongside the opening of the fair.

“We pair it with opening day of the fair,” Baker said. “It’s so important to be able to help them to get really stacked up and racked up and ready to go for all the needs.”

The food drive gives fairgoers a chance to help the community while also kicking off another year of the Western Idaho Fair.

Once through the gates, visitors can expect many of the fair favorites that bring people back each year, including rides, food, exhibits and entertainment.

But for Baker, the fair is also about something that can’t necessarily be found on a schedule… it’s the memories people make while they are there.

For some families, a trip to the fair has become a tradition passed down through generations. Whether it is returning to a favorite ride, grabbing the same fair food each year or simply spending the day together, those experiences are part of what keeps people coming back.

As another Western Idaho Fair gets underway, opening day offers a chance to give back to the community while families begin making another year of fair memories.