Restrictions

On August 25, Idaho began enforcing its trigger ban, which prohibits abortion at all stages of pregnancy, with exceptions for the life¹ of the pregnant person and for survivors of rape and incest who have reported the incident to law enforcement.² following the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to overturnRoe v. Wade in the case Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization.³ The state narrowed the rape and incest exceptions to apply only during the first trimester.⁴

In January 2024, the Supreme Court agreed to hear a case brought by the state of Idaho, challenging the federal government’s determination that the federal Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA)⁵ requires Idaho hospitals to provide abortion care to pregnant people in emergency situations,⁶ and stayed the injunction previously affirmed by the Ninth Circuit.⁷ On June 27, 2024, the Supreme Court vacated the stay on the injunction and sent the case back to the lower courts for further action.⁸

Idaho has not repealed other laws related to abortion. Idaho retains gestational bans at  6-weeks LMP,⁹ a law modeled on Texas S.B. 8 and enforced through a private right of action. The state Supreme Court allowed this ban to take effect.¹⁰ The ban is currently being challenged in state court.¹¹ Idaho also prohibits abortion after twenty weeks post-fertilization; however, this ban is enjoined.¹² The state prohibits abortion after viability.¹³ Idaho prohibits D&X procedures.¹⁴ Idaho law continues to include requirements that pregnant people must undergo a mandatory twenty-four-hour waiting period, and biased counseling;¹⁵ prohibitions on public funding, and private insurance coverage,¹⁶ and criminal penalties for people who self-manage their abortions, but this last provision is permanently enjoined.¹⁷ Idaho continues to require that a parent or legal guardian,¹⁸ consent to a minor’s abortion; alternatively, a judge¹⁹ can approve a minor’s abortion without parental consent. However, in 2023, Idaho enacted a law that criminalizes assistance to a minor who leaves the state to access abortion care.²⁰ Portions of the law that prohibit providing information to minors are temporarily blocked, but the portions of the law that prohibit transporting or sheltering minors are in effect.²¹

Idaho retains targeted regulation of abortion providers (TRAP) laws  related to facilities, which was held to be unconstitutional,²² and reporting.²³ Idaho law continues to restrict the provision of abortion care to licensed physicians²⁴ and still restricts the use of telemedicine for medication abortion.²⁵ The current Attorney General of Idaho interpreted state law as prohibiting providers from providing referrals and information about abortion care in other states.²⁶ This interpretation is subject to a preliminary injunction.²⁷ Providers who violate Idaho’s abortion restrictions may face civil and criminal penalties.²⁸

State Protections

Idaho law does not include express constitutional or statutory protections for abortion.²⁹ To the contrary, the Idaho Supreme Court found that the state constitution does not protect abortion and various abortion bans are rationally related to legitimate government interests.³⁰

Post-Roe Prohibitions

In 2020, Idaho enacted a trigger ban.³¹ Idaho repealed its pre-Roe ban in 1973.³²

Conclusion

Now that the Supreme Court has overturnedRoe, Idaho is enforcing its trigger ban, which criminalizes abortion.