States push to stop abortion travel

Idaho bans abortion at all stages of pregnancy. In April 2023, it also became the first state to impose travel restrictions with what it called an “abortion trafficking” law.

This law prevents people from helping minors who are not their children get abortions – without parental consent – including in another state.

Idaho’s attorney general has interpreted the law to mean that health care providers cannot refer patients to abortion clinics in other states. And based on this interpretation, the new law also means that a grandparent or teacher, for example, could not provide advice to a pregnant teenager.

An abortion access fund and a few others have challenged this law, saying that it violates the First Amendment and infringes on pregnant patients’ constitutional right to travel.

A federal district court temporarily blocked the law from going into effect in November 2023, but the case is currently being appealed at the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

More recently, in July 2024, Tennessee enacted copycat legislation, which is also being challenged.

Other states – Alabama, Mississippi and Oklahoma – have considered similar abortion trafficking laws but so far have not enacted any.