Idaho attorney general vows appeal after judge blocks portions of pro-life laws

A federal judge has blocked Idaho officials from enforcing portions of the state’s pro-life laws against physicians who perform abortions in certain instances, a decision condemned as judicial overreach by the state attorney general and pro-life leaders who vowed to fight it on appeal.

U.S. District Judge B. Lynn Winmill, appointed by former President Bill Clinton, issued the 81-page decision Aug. 13 in a lawsuit brought by Boise maternal-fetal medicine specialist Dr. Stacy Seyb. The judge said the 14th Amendment protects a “narrow but fundamental right” to abortion but affirmed that the Constitution “does not protect the right to elective abortion.”

“Idaho may not criminalize abortions deemed medically necessary to save the pregnant woman’s life or prevent serious and long-term impairments to her health unless the restriction is narrowly tailored to a compelling state interest,” Winmill wrote.

The ruling blocks Idaho Attorney General Raúl Labrador and the Ada County prosecutor from enforcing the state’s Defense of Life Act and Fetal Heartbeat Act against physicians who perform abortions after determining in “good faith medical judgment” that “continuation of the pregnancy poses a non-negligible risk of serious and lasting harm to the health of the pregnant woman.” 

It also bars enforcement when a physician determines “that abortion is necessary to prevent a non-negligible risk that continuation of the pregnancy will result in the death of the pregnant woman from self-harm.”

The Defense of Life Act, enacted in 2020, prohibits most abortions except when necessary to prevent the mother’s death or during the first trimester in certain cases of rape or incest. The law states that an abortion is not considered necessary to prevent the mother’s death solely because a physician believes the woman “may or will take action to harm herself.” The overlapping Heartbeat Act, enacted in 2021 and amended in 2022, provides an additional civil enforcement mechanism against physicians who perform prohibited abortions after an unborn child’s heartbeat is detected.

Attorneys representing Seyb said in a statement that the latest decision marks the first time a federal court has recognized a constitutional “right” to abortion in certain circumstances since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022.

Labrador said his office will appeal and is “confident the decision will be overturned.”

“Judge Winmill did exactly what the Supreme Court rejected in Dobbs: he legislated from the bench and manufactured a new constitutional right to abortion,” Labrador stated. “The Supreme Court made clear that abortion policy belongs to the people and their elected representatives, not a single federal judge.” 

The Idaho Family Policy Center (IFPC), a Christian and pro-life group, described the opinion as an “activist” attempt to invent a right not present in the Constitution and expressed confidence that an appellate court will reverse it. 

“Every child deserves the protection of our laws, even in those cases where his or her mother is struggling with mental health. Abortion is never a valid form of psychiatric care,” IFPC President Blaine Conzatti said in a statement. “Women struggling with mental health need treatment, not the enduring trauma that inevitably accompanies the unnecessary death of her preborn child.”

Conzatti emphasized that the Heartbeat Act’s private civil cause of action remains in effect despite the ruling, meaning that “any physician who performs an abortion prohibited by the Heartbeat law can still be liable for breaking the law.”

“Abortionists should take note: The IFPC Legal Center stands ready to hold doctors accountable who illegally perform abortions,” Conzatti said. “We want to extend our gratitude to Attorney General Labrador and his team for their hard work defending Idaho’s laws protecting the unborn, and we fully expect their work to be vindicated on appeal.”

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