BOISE — Members of our state’s Reproductive Justice Coalition, Freeing Idaho, expressed dismay at this morning's passage of SB1309 out of Idaho’s Senate State Affairs Committee. Their highlighted concerns are for the safety of community members and medical providers.
SB1309 is a bill which copycats SB8 from Texas—a bill that eradicates a pregnant person in Idaho from having access to abortion after just 6 weeks of pregnancy. Additionally, it encourages everyday Idahoans to act as vigilantes, allowing anyone to surveil the lives of pregnant people & giving the ability to sue medical professionals who provide a safe abortion for a minimum of $20,000 in damages.
"SB1309 would eliminate nearly all abortion care in our state, leaving pregnant Idahoans unable to access essential health care,” said Planned Parenthood Alliance Advocates Idaho State Director Mistie DelliCarpini Tolman. “This bill is a dangerous and cruel attempt to circumvent our constitutional right to abortion. Idaho deserves better than out-of-touch politicians who are more focused on appeasing fringe extremists than they are with strengthening health care in our state.”
Legal Voice Senior Attorney Kim Clark states “The passage of SB1309 would make the state complicit in this abusive behavior in service of no legitimate state interest. This law does not protect life. No one seriously believes that it will stop abortion in the state of Idaho and the bill certainly does not protect the lives of pregnant people and their children.”
“Not only is SB1309 blatantly unconstitutional as a near total ban on abortion, but it is also designed in such a manner that undermines the separation of powers and could be weaponized by other states to limit the constitutional rights that we all hold dear,” says ACLU Idaho Policy Strategist Lauren Bramwell.” The ACLU will continue advocating for an Idaho that respects and supports each of us in making the deeply personal decisions that determine the shape of our lives, including whether, when and how we choose to have children.”
“Reproductive coercion is a health disparity issue for women. Removing bodily autonomy and choice for women will only exacerbate the issue of intimate partner violence for many Idahoans,” said tai simpson, Director of Social Change at the Idaho Coalition Against Sexual & Domestic Violence.
Chelsea Gaona Lincoln, Executive Director of Add the Words, shared “SB1309 won’t stop abortions; no piece of legislation ever has or ever will. These shameful bans on pregnant people's access to essential healthcare will cost Idaho’s communities in safety and will be paid in the increased mortality of people who are forced to seek desperate measures to end an unwanted pregnancy or force individuals to carry out a pregnancy against their will.”
Freeing Idaho Coalition members are urging all Idahoans to contact their state senators and urge them to protect bodily autonomy for all Idahoans by opposing SB1309 as it makes its way to the Senate’s floor. This bill flies in the face of current-day constitutional protections of privacy and access to reproductive health care.
*View and print PDF of original press release below
