Will abortion ban take effect this month? Idaho Supreme Court hears arguments Wednesday
BOSIE, Idaho (KIFI) - The Idaho Supreme Court held two hearings on Wednesday surrounding Idaho's abortion laws.
Planned Parenthood has petitioned for the court to overturn the State's Fetal Heartbeat abortion ban and pause Idaho's abortion trigger ban set to go into effect on August 25.
The law would criminalize all abortions except in the case of incest, rape, or if the mother's life is at risk.
Planned Parenthood is asking the court to stay the ban because they say its language is vague and violates Idaho's constitution.
"Take the first defense, which is available when an abortion is, quote, necessary to prevent the death of a pregnant woman," Planned Parenthood local council Alan Schoenfeld said. "That language gives no indication of how imminent or substantial the risk of death must be in order for the provider to feel confident that he can provide an abortion without risking prosecution, jail, and professional sanction. Must the woman's death be certain?"
Deputy Attorney General Megan Larrondo of the legislator pushed for the court to remove the block on the fetal heartbeat bill and allow the trigger law to move forward.
She argued that the court should interpret the constitution the way the drafters intended.
"Ultimately, the question is, what did the framers intend when they drafted this concept, the Idaho constitution?" Larrondo said. "There is no way that the framers, the drafters of the Idaho constitution, were thinking that they were enshrining something as a fundamental right that was criminally prohibited at the time that they were drafting the document."
