“Trafficking in abortions”, a new crime in the United States

The decision by some localities in the United States to continue to allow abortions despite the Supreme Court ruling that overturned the historic Roe vs. Wade spawned a new battlefield, which just added a new chapter with Idaho’s recent decision to punish who help a minor to travel to terminate her pregnancy.

Gov. Brad Little on Wednesday signed into law a bill making it illegal for an adult to helping a minor to have an abortion without parental consent.

The law is the first of its kind in the United States and creates a new offense, “trafficking in abortions,” which prohibits an adult from obtaining abortion pills for a minor or “recruit, house or transport the pregnant minor” without the consent of their parents or guardians.

Those found guilty of violating this law will face sentences of two to five years’ imprisonment and can be sued by the parents or guardians of the minor. Parents guilty of raping their daughter will not be able to file a complaint, although the criminal penalties for those who helped her have an abortion will remain in force.

To avoid limiting the constitutional right to travel to another state, Idaho law made it illegal only the leg of the journey that takes place within its borders in a clinic outside.

Opponents of the rule have promised a legal battle.

voices of protest

“Once again, the Governor of Idaho ignored his constituents and signed HB 242 into law, criminalizing the first offense of so-called ‘abortion trafficking’ nationwide. This law is despicable and we will do everything in our power to stop it,” the state director of Planned Parenthood Advocates-West for Idaho said on Twitter Wednesday.

Idaho is already one of 13 states de facto prohibit abortion in all stages of pregnancyand is one of the few with laws that punish those who help people of any age in the process.

State leaders from Washington, Oregon and California presented the West Coast as a safe place for abortion proceduresand lawmakers in Oregon and Washington are considering bills that protect providers and patients from criminal liability.

Oregon would allow practitioners to perform abortions regardless of age and, in some cases, prohibit them from disclosing that information to parents.

thirty-six states require parental involvement in a minor’s decision to have an abortion, although most include exceptions for cases such as medical emergencies, according to the Guttmacher Institute, a research center that supports the right to abortion.

Source: AP