Pro-abortion Democrats in the U.S. Senate want the Justice Department to fight a new Idaho law that protects underage girls from being trafficked across state lines for abortions without their parents’ consent, claiming it infringes on “interstate travel.”
In a letter Wednesday to Attorney General Merrick Garland, first reported at The Huffington Post, U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Massachusetts, and others asked the department to use its legal powers against the new pro-life law.
“Given the work of many of our states to protect access to abortion care no matter whether a patient comes from the state or travels from another, we are alarmed by efforts in other states to curb interstate travel, which may present an unprecedented attack on Americans’ rights,” the Democrat senators wrote.
But the Idaho law, the first of its kind, does not ban interstate travel any more than kidnapping laws do. Rather, it protects young girls from being taken, potentially by force or coercion, to another state to have her unborn baby aborted without her parents’ consent. Abusers and human traffickers often rely on abortion to cover up their crimes.
Idaho protects unborn babies by banning elective abortions, but most of its neighboring states allow abortion on demand, including on underage girls without their parents’ knowledge.
Other states are considering similar legislation to protect underage girls and unborn babies, including Iowa, Texas and Tennessee, according to the report.
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Earlier this week, however, pro-abortion groups filed a lawsuit challenging the Idaho law, and U.S. Senate Democrat leaders appear to be pressuring the attorney general to do the same.
According to the Huffington Post:
The senators called on Garland to hold a briefing by July 26 with the Reproductive Health Task Force, which the DOJ established weeks after the Supreme Court struck down Roe. That task force, the senators reminded Garland, vowed last year to monitor state-level action that infringes on patients’ “ability to inform and counsel each other about the reproductive care that is available in other states.”
Along with Warren, others who signed the letter included U.S. Sens. Dianne Feinstein, of California; Mazie Hirono, of Hawaii; Peter Welch, of Vermont; Raphael Warnock, of Georgia; Alex Padilla, of California; Richard Blumenthal, of Connecticut; Kirsten Gillibrand, of New York; and John Fetterman, of Pennsylvania, the report states.
Since the Idaho law passed in April, abortion activists have been making wildly false claims about it. One Democrat strategist even asserted that the law prohibits all pregnant women from leaving the state.
To protect young girls and their babies, the Idaho law creates a crime called “abortion trafficking,” which prohibits 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. Anyone found guilty of trafficking a teenager for an out-of-state abortion would face up to five years in prison.
Jennifer Popik, J.D., federal legislative director at National Right to Life, explained more about the law in a recent article at the Society of St. Sebastian:
The plain language of the bill says nothing about crossing state lines. Nor does it prevent a minor herself from crossing a state line. It simply prevents an adult from transporting a minor within Idaho for the purpose of obtaining an abortion with the intent to conceal it from her parents. The law also prevents an adult from assisting in procuring an illegal abortion within the state, for example, by obtaining and providing her with chemical abortion drugs within the state.
Further, neither this particular law nor the pro-life movement is attempting to punish a woman or girl. Neither the Idaho law nor any other proposed piece of legislation is attempting to punish or prevent a woman or minor themselves from traveling.
Americans believe parents should be involved if their underage daughter is pregnant and wants an abortion. A 2022 Rasmussen poll found 64 percent believe abortion facilities should be required to notify parents and 60 percent believe parents should give their permission for an abortion on an underage girl.
