East Idaho reacts to abortion trigger law
IDAHO FALLS, Idaho (KIFI) - Portion's of Idaho's abortion trigger law took effect on Thursday.
The ban will make performing an abortion in any “clinically diagnosable pregnancy” a felony, punishable by up to five years in prison.
But a recent ruling by U.S. District Judge B. Lynn Winmill blocked portions of the ban from going into effect.
This makes it possible for a woman to receive an abortion in the case of a medical emergency.
Wednesday, candidate for Idaho's House of Representatives Miranda Marquit held a panel examining the impacts of Idaho's abortion trigger law.
"We have a vast amount of research and data that tells us that abortion bans are ineffective at actually reducing abortions," Marquit said. "If we truly care about babies, families, and the health of our community, we would focus on policies designed to support Idahoans. These policies include comprehensive sexual education, access to affordable birth control, a commitment to affordable healthcare and housing, and strong public education funding."
Idaho Falls Representative Chad Christensen agrees with the exception for a mother's safety. But, he says the state is on the right track with the ban.
"Murder is against the law, and that's how I frame it. I put it in that same category as the killing of a human life," Christensen said. "I don't care how you justify it or how you minimize it."
Other experts believe the issue isn't so black and white.
Constitutional scholar David Adler argues the right to an abortion was present throughout our country's history.
"At the very foundation of our nation. In the early the colonial period and the early statehood period, numerous states permitted abortion up until the point of quickening roughly three months," Adler said. "That means the state legislatures made the decision not to criminalize the performance of an abortion up until the point of pregnancy, recognizing that that ought to be the most profoundly intimate decision that a woman could ever make."
According to the Pew Research Center, sentiment on abortion is split nearly 50-50 among adults in Idaho.
