BOISE, Idaho —
U.S. District Judge Lynn Winmill said that Idaho's Attorney General cannot prosecute medical providers who refer women for abortions out of state. At least for now.
Winmill, in a detailed opinion released late Monday, raised a collection of concerns with the content of an AG's letter that appeared to give legal guidance on Idaho’s abortion laws. Primary issues Winmill saw concerned first amendment rights.
AG Raul Labrador was asked in late March for insight on Idaho’s criminal abortion laws by Rep. Brent Crane. In that letter signed by Labrador, it is highlighted that Labrador believes Idaho law prohibits doctors from assisting to attempt or preform an abortion.
The letter states, “The plain meaning of assist is to give support or aid. An Idaho health care professional who refers a woman across state lines to an abortion provider or who prescribes abortion pills for the woman across state lines has given support or aid to the woman in performing or attempting to perform an abortion and has thus violated the statute.”
As Planned Parenthood filed their lawsuit over the letter, Labrador rescinded the letter. In a response, the AG expressed that Rep. Crane had requested a response on behalf of Stanton Healthcare, an anti-abortion health care group. Lawmakers are supposed to request law insights for themselves in their lawmaking role, not as a middleman for political groups.
“The reality is we should have never been here in the first place,” said Rebecca Gibron, President and CEO of Planned Parenthood Great Northwest, Hawai‘i, Alaska, Indiana, Kentucky.
Planned Parenthood has worked with medical professionals around Idaho that fear of prosecution based on Labrador’s letter. They have a real fear that just talking with a patient about getting an abortion in a neighboring state, like Oregon, could cost them their medical license.
Judge Winmill touched on the concern in his 60-page opinion saying that “the Court finds that the Medical Providers are likely to succeed on their First Amendment cause of action.”
Winmill says even though Labrador withdrew the letter, to this day, the “Attorney General has refused to disavow the letter’s interpretation or affirmatively state that Idaho’s criminal abortion statute will not be enforced in such a manner.”
Gibron finds that telling.
“Labrador had every opportunity when we were in front of the judge to disavow the opinion, and he absolutely refused to do so. And the judge called that out in his ruling,” Gibron said.
The opinion goes on to state, “the Attorney General has strained at every juncture possible to distance himself from his previous statement without committing to a new interpretation or providing any assurances to this Court or the Medical Providers. Attorney General Labrador’s targeted silence is deafening.”
The Judge agreed with the medical providers saying the letter chilled free speech: “Simply put, the Medical Providers should not be required “to speak first and take their chances with the consequences.”
KTVB reached out to Labrador’s office for comment they gave this statement: “In his 28-year career you’d be hard pressed to find a time when Judge Winmill has ruled against Planned Parenthood, so his decision is not surprising. Judge Winmill wants to restrain a power we don’t possess. We strongly disagree with his order.”
Gibron disagreed, she thinks the judge was fair in his assessment and Labrador just doesn’t like it.
“I think for far too long, extremists in this state have been creating harmful laws with no checks in place and at the first sign of accountability. They cry foul,” Gibron said.
Labrador’s office filed this appeal to the decision earlier on Tuesday. Gibron says no surprise.
“The fact that he's appealing the ruling at all tells us exactly what we knew all along. Labrador is intending to attack and go after providers in the state of Idaho,” Gibron said.
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