Idaho Senate panel rejects Texas-modeled abortion law

BOISE, Idaho (AP) — A Senate panel has rejected a proposed law modeled after a Texas law that would have outlawed nearly all abortions in Idaho by banning them once a fetal heartbeat could be detected.

The Senate State Affairs Committee on Monday deadlocked 4-4, killing the proposal.

But a revised version could return. Idaho already has a “fetal heartbeat” law, but it needs a favorable ruling in a federal court to become active.

The proposal sought to amend that law to allow family members to sue a doctor who performed an abortion, making the law active now.

But lawmakers said that conflicted with existing Idaho laws by giving family members standing to sue.