New Idaho abortion law draws national attention

BOISE, Idaho (KIFI) - A legal non-profit is talking about the possible ripple effects Idaho's new abortion ban will cause.

Chelsea Gaona-Lincoln, the Idaho Programs Manager for Legal Voice, says the ban has taken away people's choices.

"It has really ripped away the autonomy from people's bodies and being able to have choices and access to choices," Gaona-Lincoln said. "We're deeply concerned about the ripple effect that's going to have not only on people who could become pregnant but especially survivors of intimate partner violence, rape, and incest."

The bill also allows family members of the unborn child to sue the abortion provider for a minimum of $20,000 in damages, as many as four years after the procedure.

"I myself am pregnant and I have family members and I'm not close to or I don't speak to," Gaona-Lincoln said. "The fact that those people could come back around to my personal medical information and decide to file a lawsuit against a medical professional who's just doing their job, it's pretty outrageous."

Bill co-sponsor Barbara Ehardt says it's all about saving lives and that in almost 50 years, 62 million babies nationwide have been aborted.

Ehardt also says Idaho should be on the cutting edge of all things conservative.

"For us to join with the likes of Texas and other pro-family and pro-life groups, we should be doing that," Ehardt said. "That's who we've been as Idahoans. I believe the closer we are to our roots the better our communities will be, the stronger our families will be. Stronger families make strong communities and strong communities make for a strong state and strong states make for a strong nation."

However, Gaona-Lincoln says there are a lot of ripple effects.

"You can never eradicate abortion. All they're doing is getting rid of access to safe abortion care, and we know that mortality rates go up," Gaona-Lincoln said. "We know how much harm can come from that. Folks should not have to flee their own state just to access safe and legal health care."

Another ripple effect is intimate partner violence.

"One of the ways that abusers make sure that the people can't leave those violent relationships is through reproductive coercion. By sabotaging birth control efforts or little routine availability to get abortion care when it's needed," Gaona-Lincoln said. "We know that when unintended pregnancies, folks are forced to carry those to term, the likelihood of violence skyrockets for not only the people who are stuck in those relationships but if they have children. And we even start to see an increase in homicide. We're terrified about people who are living in those circumstances. Governor Little should have never signed the bill, making Idaho complicit in those abusive situations."