April 6 (UPI) -- The Republican governor of Idaho, Brad Little, signed into law legislation that makes it a crime for an adult to aid a minor in receiving an abortion, while civil rights groups filed a lawsuit over a new interpretation of the state's near-total abortion ban.
Little on Wednesday signed House Bill 242 that criminalizes "abortion trafficking," which the legislation defines as an adult who either procures an abortion or obtains out-of-state abortion-inducing drugs for a minor. Anyone convicted of committing such a crime can face between two and five years' imprisonment.
"With the U.S. Supreme Court's reversal of Roe vs. Wade last summer, the right and duty to establish legal policy on abortion was finally returned to our state democratic process," Little wrote in a letter announcing he had signed HB 242.
"Section 1 of House Bill 242 does not criminalize, preclude or otherwise impair interstate travel, nor does it limit an adult woman from obtaining an abortion in another state. Rather, the 'abortion trafficking' provision in the bill seeks only to prevent unemancipated minor girls from being taken across state lines for an abortion without the knowledge and consent of her parent or guardian."