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Idaho abortion restrictions ruled unconstitutional in federal court | |
(6 days later) | |
An Idaho law that prohibits abortions of fetuses 20 or more weeks after fertilization is unconstitutional, a US appeals court ruled on Friday. | |
The ruling, from the 9th US circuit court of appeals in San Francisco, also struck down an Idaho law that required all second-trimester abortions to occur in a hospital. | |
Bans on abortion after 20 weeks have been passed in 12 states since 2010, according to Naral Pro-Choice America, an abortion rights advocacy group. The Republican-led US House of Representatives passed a measure this month that would ban most abortions after 20 weeks. The bill faces an uncertain future in the Senate, and Barack Obama opposes it. | |
The Idaho laws have not been enforced in the state, as a lower court judge had reached the same conclusion as the 9th circuit. A spokesman for the Idaho attorney general was not immediately available for comment on Friday. | |
The Idaho case began when a local prosecutor filed a criminal complaint against Jennie Linn McCormack for self-inducing an abortion by ingesting a pack of pills. That case was dismissed, but McCormack then filed a civil lawsuit challenging several Idaho abortion statutes. | |
In a unanimous three-judge opinion on Friday, the 9th circuit said US supreme court precedent barred the Idaho laws. | |
McCormack’s lawyer, Richard Hearn, said he and his client were “very pleased” with the ruling. |