By REBECCA BOONE
Associated Press
BOISE, Idaho (AP) - Idaho has become the first
state to have its so-called fetal pain law banning abortions after 20
weeks struck down by the federal courts.
The decision from U.S. District Judge B. Lynn
Winmill was handed down Wednesday as part of a ruling that also
overturns other abortion restrictions in Idaho.
The ruling is binding only in Idaho but could have a
persuasive effect in lawsuits challenging similar bans in other states like Arkansas or Arizona, where a suit is pending before the 9th U.S. Circuit
Court of Appeals.
Ten states in all have enacted fetal pain laws
since 2010, said Elizabeth Nash, a policy analyst with the Guttmacher
Institute, which supports abortion rights and tracks laws affecting
women's health.
Nebraska was first, followed over the next few
years by Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas,
Louisiana and Oklahoma.
But only three states have had the laws legally
challenged. Eastern Idaho resident Jennie Linn McCormack was the first
to sue over the fetal pain law and other abortion restrictions after
Bannock County Prosecutor Mark Hiedeman charged her with a felony
because police said she obtained an illegal abortion. A lawsuit has been
brought in Georgia, as well; that case is still pending in the state
courts.
Idaho Sen. Chuck Winder, who led the legislative
push for the fetal pain law two years ago, said he and others would need
to closely study Winmill's ruling before deciding how the state should
proceed.
"I'm very disappointed in the court in its decision
to overturn the right to protect a life and protect a life from the
pain of abortion," the Boise Republican said.
McCormack's attorney, Richard Hearn of Pocatello,
said Winmill's ruling makes it clear that any attempts by states to ban
abortions before a fetus can survive outside the womb are
unconstitutional.
The ruling cited two landmark U.S. Supreme Court
cases - Roe vs. Wade and Planned Parenthood vs. Casey - to show a woman
has an absolute right to an abortion before the point of viability,
Hearn said.
"It's not just the fetal pain laws. It's that fetal
heartbeat law in Arkansas, too," Hearn said. Picking a "pre-viability"
date to ban abortions is unconstitutional, he said.
"It's as though legislatures all across the country
are saying, 'We don't really care. We're just going to do it anyway in
the face of the Constitution,'" Hearn said. "Thankfully Winmill put a
stop to that in Idaho."
Officials with the National Right to Life Committee
didn't return phone messages left by The Associated Press. And calls to
the cellphone of David Ripley, the leader of Idaho Chooses Life, were
unanswered.
Julie Rikelman, litigation director for the Center for Reproductive Rights, said her organization applauded Winmill's decision.
"For 40 years, the Supreme Court has consistently
held that women's right to make their own decisions about whether to
continue or end a pregnancy is guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution," she
said in a statement. "Today's ruling has overturned a legislative
assault by politicians who seek to interfere with that decision and deny
women this fundamental right."
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