Senate panel introduces bill banning most abortions in Idaho

BOISE, Idaho (AP) — A panel of Idaho lawmakers has introduced a bill that would ban abortions after six weeks of pregnancy — before many women know they are pregnant — by allowing extended family members of the patient to sue any doctor that performs one.

The legislation introduced on Friday from Blain Conzatti, president of the anti-abortion organization Idaho Family Policy Center, is modeled on a similar law in Texas that is the most restrictive in the nation.

Shortly after the bill was introduced on a party-line vote, Planned Parenthood Alliance Advocates of Idaho issued a statement criticizing the legislation as an end-run around the constitutional right to abortion.