In Idaho, which has some of the strictest anti-abortion laws in the nation, state lawmakers have introduced a bill that would create yet another restriction, levying criminal penalties against anyone who helps a minor obtain an abortion without her parents' permission.
The bill, H.B. 242, was passed in the Idaho House earlier this month and is widely expected to pass in the Senate in the coming weeks. The legislation defines the new crime of "abortion trafficking," writing that any adult who helps an unemancipated minor obtain an abortion procedure or abortion-inducing drugs "by recruiting, harboring, or transporting the pregnant minor within this state" without the permission of the minor's parents or guardians has committed the crime. Those found guilty of "abortion trafficking" can face two to five years in prison.
