Idaho Supreme Court temporarily blocks state’s new 6-week abortion ban

The Idaho Supreme Court on Friday temporarily blocked the state’s new six-week abortion ban, which mimics a controversial Texas law.

Abortion providers had said in a lawsuit filed last week that the Idaho law violates several provisions of the state constitution and asked the state Supreme Court to intervene before April 22, when the law had been set to take effect.

The court on Friday granted a motion to reconsider, and said that the “implementation of Senate Bill 1309 is stayed pending further action by this Court.”

Last month, Idaho had become the first state to follow the controversial Texas statute that allows private citizens to enforce the abortion restrictions with lawsuits.

Like the Texas law, the Idaho measure outlaws abortions after fetal cardiac activity is detected – a point around six weeks into pregnancy, when many women do not know yet that they’re pregnant.

Also like Texas, the Idaho law tasks enforcement to private citizens, who can bring lawsuits against medical professionals who performed prohibited procedures. Specifically, the Idaho law says that the father of the fetus, as well as his or the woman’s family, can bring lawsuits seeking damages of at least $20,000. It provides exceptions for cases of rape and incest – contingent on the abortion-seeker reporting the crime to law enforcement and providing documentation of that report to the abortion clinic – and in cases of a “medical emergency.”