With another war being waged by men against a women’s right to choose, the Idaho House voted 51-14, with no Democratic support, to pass an abortion bill that would allow potential family members to sue any doctor who performs an abortion during a pregnancy longer than six weeks.
Idaho’s abortion ban will give rapists’ families more power over women’s bodies than women themselves.
The bill would allow the potential father, grandparents, siblings, aunts, and uncles of a fetus to sue an abortion provider for a minimum of $20,000 in damages within four years of the procedure. Not just that, but it would also allow for a rapist’s family to file a lawsuit as well, as a rapist wouldn’t be able to. RELATED: What The ‘Roe Baby’ Wants Us To Know About Abortion 48 Years After ‘Roe V. Wade’ The both harrowing and disgusting bill strips women of control over their bodies, even after their abuser has already done the same. The state Senate had already approved the bill, and now it goes to Governor Brad Little, who is more than likely to sign it into effect. Little, who is part of the Republican party, signed a similar law called the “fetal heartbeat” bill into effect last year, which prohibits abortions after five or six weeks of pregnancy except in medical emergencies or in cases of rape or incest. — The Recount (@therecount) March 15, 2022 Despite the fact that the Idaho bill will allow for exceptions, it also “requires women to file a police report and show it to the provider before they can get an abortion,” a process that will most likely deter people from using the exception. The bill states that the rapist themselves cannot sue an abortion provider if their victim seeks an abortion, but key details are still not completely clear. The bill doesn’t address whether someone who is accused of rape can still sue an abortion provider if his alleged victim seeks an abortion. Does the rule only apply to rapists who are charged? If so, rape trials sometimes take months or even years to complete, meaning it would be almost impossible for women to seek out the exception. RELATED: Greg Abbott Says Rape Exemption Not Necessary For Abortion Law Because Texas Will ‘Eliminate All Rapists’ “This bill would have a devastating impact on the people of Idaho,” Dr. Erin Berry, a Washington state medical director of Planned Parenthood Great Northwest, told TIME Magazine.
The restrictions against abortion come at a time when the future of Roe v. Wade precariously hangs by a thread, ready to be axed by Supreme Court conservatives.
Just this week, Tennessee, a state that already has one of the strictest abortion bans in the country, began drafting another anti-abortion measure that’s similar to the Texas law. The Tennessee bill would ban all abortions, which is even stricter than Texas’ six-week window. Similar to the Texas law, it will make legal challenges difficult because the government would not be the enforcer. In Missouri, a state representative proposed a bill that would stop residents from getting abortions out of state, and on top of that, another representative wants to make it a felony to abort an ectopic pregnancy, despite the fact that terminating an ectopic pregnancy can save pregnant people’s lives. There are absolutely no words to describe how frightening it is to live through unsettling times of laws being put in place that restrict abortions, and the right to choose, especially at the hands of men. RELATED: If Texas Republicans Really Care About Reducing Abortions They Need To Stop Blocking Access To Contraception Nia Tipton is a writer living in Brooklyn. She covers pop culture, social justice issues, and trending topics. Follow her on Instagram.
