Michael Hiltzik: Red states are threatening to criminalize out-of-state abortions. These blue states are fighting back
Back in May, the Legislature and governor of Idaho conceived of a new crime, which they called "abortion trafficking."
The supposedly trafficked victims were pregnant minors who don't want their parents to know they're seeking an abortion. The state made it illegal for anyone to help them obtain an abortion, including by medical means, as well as "recruiting, harboring, or transporting the pregnant minor" within the state. The law calls for jail terms of two to five years.
The law also empowers many members of the minor's extended family — parents, siblings, the minor's other children — and the father of the unborn child — to sue even out-of-state abortion providers for damages of $20,000 or more.
The law is a companion piece to Idaho's almost total abortion ban. One of the harshest anti-abortion bans in the country, the law criminalizes abortions under almost
