BOISE, Idaho — Abortion providers said they’ll have to turn away many people seeking to terminate pregnancies after Idaho Gov. Brad Little on Wednesday signed a bill that will allow families to sue anyone who performs an abortion after roughly six weeks of pregnancy.
The law, which was modeled after a Texas law passed last year, allows certain family members to sue abortion providers for $20,000 in civil court in any instance where a fetal heartbeat can be detected. Physicians said that marker — more accurately described as “electrical activity” than a heartbeat — often occurs before many people know they’re pregnant.
Dr. Erin Berry, the Washington medical director for Planned Parenthood of the Great Northwest and the Hawaiian Islands, said the law will diminish abortion access in Idaho and send a surge of patients to Washington. Berry also provides abortions in Idaho.
