Idaho Gov. Brad Little signed a law last week that makes it illegal to help a minor get an abortion by supplying them drugs or helping them across state lines to terminate a pregnancy without parental consent.
House Bill 232, the first of its kind, creates a new crime called “abortion trafficking” and prohibits adults from getting abortion drugs for a minor or “recruiting, harboring or transporting the pregnant minor” across state lines to get an abortion without the consent of a parent or guardian, according to the Associated Press.
Little, a Republican, signed the law last Wednesday. Abortion is banned in the state.
Those who are convicted of violating the new law face a potential jail sentence of two to five years and open themselves up to being sued by the parents or guardians of the girl involved.
The law also empowers Idaho’s attorney general to bring charges against people accused of violating the law, even if the county prosecutor chooses not to pursue criminal charges.
To ensure compliance with the constitutional right to travel between states, Idaho’s law specifically targets only the portion of a trip that occurs within the state when seeking abortion services from an out-of-state provider.
“House Bill 242 does not criminalize, preclude, or otherwise impair interstate travel, nor does it limit an adult woman from obtaining an abortion in another state,” Little said in his signing statement.
“Rather the ‘abortion trafficking’ provision in the bill seeks only to prevent unemancipated minor girls from being taken across state lines for an abortion without the knowledge and consent of her parent or guardian,” the governor added.
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The bill was met with condemnation from the Idaho state director for Planned Parenthood Alliance Advocates-West.
“Yet again, Idaho’s governor disregarded constituents and signed HB 242 into law, creating the nation’s first crime of so-called ‘abortion trafficking.’ This legislation is despicable, and we’re going to do everything in our power to stop it,” the organization tweeted.
Idaho is one of 13 U.S. states that have restricted abortion in all stages of pregnancy since the Supreme Court decision that overturned Roe v. Wade last June.
Thirty-six states mandate parental involvement regarding a minor’s decision to have an abortion, according to the Guttmacher Institute. States such as Washington, Oregon and California, by contrast, have presented themselves as safe havens for abortions.
Idaho also recently passed legislation that makes it a felony to provide cross-sex hormones and puberty blockers to minors.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.