‘SHAMEFUL’

Idaho Republicans Try to Invent New Crime of ‘Abortion Trafficking’

The law would make it illegal for minors to cross state lines in pursuit of an abortion.

After enacting one of the strictest abortion bans in the country, Idaho Republicans are seeking to go even further—by inventing a new crime. A bill the Idaho Senate agreed to take up on Monday would curtail the ability of minors to leave the state to seek an abortion and make any adult who helped facilitate an out-of-state abortion without parental consent guilty of “abortion trafficking.” “Recruiting, harboring, or transporting the pregnant minor within this state commits the crime of abortion trafficking,” the law says, making the act a felony punishable by two to five years in prison. While the bill’s backers say it defends “a parent’s right to be able to make [abortion] decisions in conjunction with their child,” critics have called the law “shameful,” saying it “cheapens human trafficking” by equating the existing crime to a child merely seeking medical care independently from their parents.