Idaho Attorney General wants to prosecute medical providers that refer patients to out of state abortion services

[BlueWaveNeverEnd]

Idaho attorney general’s take on abortion referrals lands at Ninth Circuit
Idaho’s attorney general claims his controversial analysis on Idaho’s abortion law is not a threat to prosecute providers who refer out-of-state abortions. According to his attorney, that’s not his job.

SEATTLE (CN) — Idaho Attorney General Raúl Labrador argued to the Ninth Circuit on Wednesday that a federal judge incorrectly blocked him from prosecuting medical providers who refer their patients to legal abortion services outside the state.

The August 2023 preliminary injunction from U.S. District Judge B. Lynn Winmill stems from a letter Labrador wrote in response to Idaho Republican Representative Brent Crane on whether Idaho’s strict abortion ban prohibits doctors from referring women to legal out-of-state abortion services.

The hand-delivered letter — published by pro-life group Stanton International and used for fundraising efforts — explains that Idaho prohibits in-state doctors from referring abortion services or prescribing abortion pills for women to pick up across state lines. It also included a sweeping interpretation of the word “assist,” concluding that any doctor who refers their patients across state lines “has given support or aid to the woman in performing or attempting to perform an abortion and thus violated the statute.”

Idaho’s criminal abortion statute maintains that most abortions are a felony punishable by two to five years imprisonment. Any medical provider who assists in performing or attempting to perform a prohibited abortion will have their medical license suspended for a first offense and revoked after a second.

Labrador’s legal interpretation prompted Planned Parenthood Great Northwest and two Idaho doctors to sue the attorney general, all 44 state county prosecutors and members of the Idaho State Board of Medicine and Idaho State Board of Nursing. Labrador penned a new letter two days after the suit was filed, retracting the statements in his letter to Crane.

The Crane letter, the plaintiffs claim, established a threat of prosecution that violated their First Amendment protected speech and Winmill largely agreed.

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On Wednesday, however, the same arguments failed to sit well with a Ninth Circuit panel, especially since Labrador has never defended the constitutional merits of his interpretation.

https://www.courthousenews.com/idaho-ags-take-on-abortion-referrals-lands-at-ninth-circuit/

[Skittles]

1. not surprising that now, "states rights" means JACK SHIT to these fucking FASCISTS

FUCKING HYPOCRITES

[Hekate]

2. These people are insane. Criminally insane.