SCOTUS may overturn Roe v. Wade, leaked opinion shows. What would that mean for Idaho?

BOISE (Idaho Statesman) — The U.S. Supreme Court appears poised to reverse landmark abortion cases, according to a Politico report published Monday night, which would trigger abortion bans in several states.

So where would Idaho stand? Politico’s article is based on a leaked draft opinion from the Supreme Court, which reportedly was written by Justice Samuel Alito. The leaked document shows the court voting in a majority to overturn two key abortion rights cases: 1973’s Roe v. Wade and 1992’s Planned Parenthood v. Casey. The cases established a right to choose abortion, as well as a time frame for legal abortion and parameters for restrictions on the procedure.

If the court follows through with an official opinion, expected in June, abortion decisions would be left to individual states, many of which have laws already on the books that would outlaw all abortions. Idaho is among them.

IDAHO’S TRIGGER LAW

Idaho has a trigger law that would effectively ban all abortions if the Supreme Court upholds the leaked decision in the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization case. Idaho code 18-622 would be “triggered” if states regain authority to prohibit abortions.

The law would make it a felony for any health care provider to perform or attempt to perform an abortion. A violation would carry a prison sentence of two to five years, and health care professionals would have their licenses suspended for six months on first offense and revoked permanently upon a subsequent offense. The license suspension also applies to providers who assist an abortion.

The law makes an exception in the case of a pregnancy conceived through rape or incest — but it stipulates that the rape or incest must be reported to law enforcement and a proof of that report submitted to the abortion provider. According to statistics from the Idaho Coalition Against Sexual and Domestic Violence, only 25% of all rapes and sexual assaults in Idaho were reported to police in 2018, the most recent year data was available.

The statute clarifies that women who undergo abortion procedures cannot be subjected to penalty or criminal conviction.

Idaho would be one of more than a dozen states to ban abortion with trigger laws. Utah and Wyoming would also outlaw the procedure. Several of Idaho’s neighboring states, including Oregon and Washington, have specifically enacted laws to preserve the legality of abortion.