BOISE, Idaho — Senate Bill 1309 now sits on Governor Brad Little's desk waiting for action.
"Abortion is not a constitutional right, this is something that we have created and that the supreme court in 1973 did something that was never allowed in the first place,” said Representative Barbara Ehardt from District 33.
While many wait to see what Gov. Little will do with the bill, people like Alexa, say getting an abortion changed her life. She decided to get an abortion when she was 23 years old.
"I was really young, and I was with a partner for three years, it wasn't secretive," said Alexa. "We were really okay with it and we took the time to think about it as well."
She said it wasn’t a decision that she took lightly when she found out she was pregnant around six weeks.
"Back then I was a waitress and I was living in a house with three other women who were also all waitresses,” she said. “At the time I had dropped out of college, I was setting out on my own I really was trying to get an understanding of who I was.”
While Alexa thinks about her abortion often, she says she has never regretted it.
"It would have not given me a chance to experience things in life that has taken me to where I am today and where I am today is really amazing, I'm graduating college, I'm getting married to the love of my life, there's still future for the possibility of having a child,” Alexa said.
Days after the bill was sent to the governors’ desk, a bill in Oregon was passed that would establish an Oregon Reproductive Equity fund. The fund is 15 million dollars and would help fund abortions and other travel-related expenses. The fund would be administered by a nonprofit called “Seeding Justice”. The nonprofit posted a press release saying that the fund will help advocates “prepare for Idaho’s imminent passage of a six-week abortion plan".
“I think about it a lot but kind of going back to where I am today, I have a lot to thank and that I am really grateful for that opportunity to make that choice for myself,” Alexa said.
But some people believe that the choice Alexa got eleven years ago, is not something that should be granted after six weeks of pregnancy.
“Within 22 days of conception there is already a heart beating and when abortion is performed a heart that was beating is forever stopped and life is ended,” said Samantha Doty, with Stanton Healthcare. “Although our desire is to outlaw abortions entirely in the state of Idaho enacting SB1309 is a huge step in the right direction.”
The governor has until Wednesday, March 23, to either sign or veto the bill. If he does nothing, the bill will automatically go into law. According to the emergency declaration in the bill, the new law will take effect 30 days after Gov. Little signs it.
"I don't trespass so why would we trespass on people’s bodies?” Alexa said. “There's a lot of similarities that Idahoans feel really strong about, my property, my gun rights, this is the same this is my body and I have the right to make that choice, the way you have the right to tell me to get off your property.”
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