Idaho’s constitution does not implicitly enshrine abortion as a fundamental right, the state Supreme Court ruled Thursday, dismissing a series of lawsuits brought by Planned Parenthood.
The ruling was a major blow to those fighting Idaho laws that took effect in August, including one that criminalizes all abortions after six weeks of gestation, except to save the life of a pregnant woman or because of rape or incest .
“This is a dark day for the state of Idaho. But our fight is far from over,” Rebecca Gibron, CEO of Planned Parenthood Great Northwest, Hawaii, Indiana, Kentucky, said in a statement.
Planned Parenthood and a family doctor have filed three lawsuits against the governor and legislative leaders in an effort to block new abortion bans. One of the laws allows potential family members of a fetus to sue a health care worker who performs an abortion. Another made medical professionals perform an abortion after electrical activity was detected a crime. And a third effectively banned all abortions, but allowed doctors to defend themselves in court by proving the abortion was done to save their patient’s life.
The Idaho Supreme Court heard arguments for all the lawsuits in a joint hearing last year. Thursday’s ruling applies to all three cases.
Planned Parenthood argued that the laws violate constitutional principles such as equal protection and due process, the High Court justices noted.
But the majority of justices said in the ruling that the state constitution does not provide for any fundamental right to abortion.
“Since Idaho achieved statehood in 1890, this Court has repeatedly and firmly interpreted the Idaho Constitution based on the plain and ordinary meaning of its text,” the justices said.
If they made the leap and concluded that the document implicitly protected abortion rights, the Constitution “would effectively be superseded by the voice of a select few on this Court,” the justices argued.
Idaho Supreme Court Justices Colleen Zahn and John Stegner concurred in the majority opinion. Zahn said, “The Idaho Constitution did not freeze rights as they existed in 1890.”
“We should look to Idaho history and traditions to determine the intent of the framers, but not be forced to examine these rights solely based on the circumstances under which they existed in the 1890s,” Zahn wrote.
In her dissent, Stegner noted the impact pregnancy has on women, saying the majority opinion “stripped Idaho women of their most basic rights.”
“Idaho women have a fundamental right to an abortion because pregnancy — and whether the pregnancy can be terminated — has a profound effect on pregnant women’s inalienable right to liberty, as well as their rights to life and safety,” Stegner wrote.
Idaho’s bans have increased pressure on abortion facilities in neighboring Oregon, where abortion rights are protected.
In South Carolina, the state Supreme Court on Thursday struck down a ban on abortion after heart activity was detected, ruling that the restriction violated the constitutional right to privacy.
The South Carolina court said the state has the authority to limit the right to privacy that protects a woman from state interference in her decision, but any limitation must give the woman sufficient time to determine whether she is pregnant and “to take reasonable steps to stop this. task. .”
The Idaho Supreme Court said his case was narrowly focused.
“All we decide today is that the Idaho constitution, as it currently stands, does not include a fundamental right to abortion,” Justice Robyn Brody wrote in the majority opinion.
Brody said Idaho’s new anti-abortion laws are “rationally related to the government’s legitimate interest in protecting prenatal fetal life at all stages of development.”
Idaho’s laws came about after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, which guaranteed abortion rights under the U.S. Constitution.
A narrow portion of one of Idaho’s abortion bans has been temporarily blocked by a federal judge in a separate case.
Abortion foes applauded the Idaho court’s decision.
“Today is a great day for Idaho’s precious premature babies,” said Blaine Conzatti, president of the Idaho Family Policy Center, a conservative Christian education and policy research organization.
Planned Parenthood said the court’s decision will specifically affect people who already face the greatest barriers to health care because of a legacy of racism and discrimination, including people of color, low-income people, immigrants and others.
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