Idaho already had some of the strictest laws against abortion, but this one might take the cake.
House Bill 242 passed the state House and is on its way to the Senate. The bill will ban minors from traveling to another state for an abortion.
This could cause a disaster
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The legislation might create a new crime, "abortion trafficking." It is defined in the bill as an "adult who, with the intent to conceal an abortion from the parents or guardian of a pregnant, unemancipated minor, either procures an abortion … or obtains an abortion-inducing drug" for the minor.
"Recruiting, harboring, or transporting the pregnant minor within this state commits the crime of abortion trafficking," the legislation adds.
Abortion trafficking is a felony
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The new bill states that someone who tries to mess with House Bill 242 could get two to five years in jail.
This means that an adult sister or dad's sister could not help a pregnant minor if they want an abortion.
A law professor explains how Republicans made this legal
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David Cohen said to HuffPost, "they're not criminalizing people driving in Washington state with a minor. The crime is the time that someone is driving the minor in Idaho."
A law professor at Philadelphia's Drexel University adds, "They're going to say what they're doing is just criminalizing actions that take place completely within Idaho. He added that in reality, what "they're criminalizing is the person helping the minor."
State representative explains her POV
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State Representative Barbara Ehardt told the same publication: "It's already illegal to get an abortion here in Idaho.
The Republican representative added, "taking that child across the border without the parent's permission, that's where we'll be able to hold accountable those that would subvert a parent's right."
A Democratic representative says it is death by a thousand cuts
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Idaho Senate Minority Leader Melissa Wintrow, a Democrat, shared, "My colleagues are just rabid about denying all access to abortion care. It's really harmful to women, and it's harmful to our state."
She compared it to the "death by a thousand cuts on many things, but they're especially unrelenting on abortion."
It took 10 minutes to pass the legislation
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In a predominantly red state, passing the such bill was easy.
Signing the bill into law will be just as simple. Republicans outnumber Democrats 4 to 1 in Senate. Despite their desire to fight, the Democrats are not optimistic.
The online community is in despair
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Reddit commentators have many questions, the first being, "how is this legal," as one person wrote.
Someone replied, "Laws don't matter to Republicans, and nobody enforces the law when they break it, so expect them to continue breaking more laws. They're going to get much worse because now they know they're immune."
Another persone said they already see a “fascinating dystopian scenario.”
Some believe people can still get away with it
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One person shared, "if you are pregnant and drive to another state and get an abortion, then drive home... Idaho isn't going to know."
However, it is more complicated. One reply said, "If they somehow find out, like a neighbor reporting on you with a bounty law... Then a woman might find herself staring down the barrel of a death penalty sentence or something. The GOP is arming its lunatics to be their eyes and ears."
Another added, "You underestimate the ease of technology to spy on people and report them to the police to jail them."
The future does not appear bright
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A Reddit poster wrote, "The next steps are gynecological search warrants and forensic gynecology. No, really."
Another person is more optimistic, sort of, "How would you function as a unified country without the right to travel? How would interstate commerce work? That would just break the country overnight."
The divide is real
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As someone stated, "They really hate women don't they?"
Another added, "Not just women! Anyone that isn't an evangelical white Christian male."
The third chimed in, "And minorities. And the LGBTQ community. And the list goes on and on..."
Another concluded, "Soon women won't be allowed to leave the state without a male chaperone. The Republican party sees women and girls as property, as s-x cattle."
Unanswered questions
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What if a pregnant teen goes to another state and loses the baby? Will they check every home-bought pregnancy test?
Also, how long until this legislation expands to all women in Idaho?
What are your thoughts?
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source https://www.womenio.com/44200/idaho-bans-interstate-travel-for-abortions
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