The Senate has voted 27-7 along party lines in favor of SB 1404a, the bill pushed by the group “Idaho Chooses Life” that bans donation or sale of fetal tissue in cases of abortion, either for organ donation or medical research. Opponents said that’s not occurring in Idaho and there’s no need for the bill. But Sen. Todd Lakey, R-Nampa, said, “This is such an important issue that I think it’s important that we take a stand and make a stand on it.”

Sen. Dan Schmidt, D-Moscow, a physician, said the bill was troubling to him as applied to a case in which a woman is informed that her unborn child has a condition in which it will not survive birth. “I don’t care what you call it, but she should be delivered for her own safety, and that baby will die,” Schmidt said. “And if she would have chosen to offer an organ for transfer to another baby who needs that organ, we have just made that illegal. I’m sorry, we are playing in an ethical sphere … and I believe we are not considering the harm we may be doing. … I believe we could do better than this.”

The bill, entitled the “Unborn Infants Dignity Act,” now moves to the House side.