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Idaho Supreme Court keeps block on abortion law in place

abortion
Posted at 4:39 PM, May 20, 2022
and last updated 2022-05-23 15:30:03-04

The Idaho Supreme Court denied a request from the Idaho Attorney General's office to lift the hold on the State's heartbeat law Friday. The pause on the Idaho heartbeat law will remain in place for now.

Planned Parenthood filed a lawsuit with the Idaho Supreme Court in March, just before the law was going to take effect.
The Idaho Supreme Court put the law on hold as the lawsuit made its way through the court system.

Governor Brad little signed the law but not without warning in his transmittal letter he wrote he has "significant concerns" regarding the law's impact on victims of sexual assault.

"Ultimately, this legislation risks re-traumatizing victims by affording monetary incentives to wrongdoers and family members of the rapists," Little wrote.

The law allows the potential father, grandparents, siblings, aunts, and uncles of a preborn child to sue an abortion provider for a minimum of $20,000 in damages within four years of the abortion. Rapists couldn’t file such a lawsuit, but a rapist’s relatives could.

Idaho was the first state to enact a law similar to the Texas abortion ban and drew criticism from officials across the country, including Vice President Kamala Harris and former White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki.