Wasden wants abortion law ruling reversed

BOISE – The state attorney general advised legislative leaders Friday that he’s asking a federal appellate court to reconsider a ruling declaring Idaho’s parental consent abortion law unconstitutional.

Lawrence Wasden said he will urge that an 11-member panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to reverse the decision of a three-judge panel. The panel found last week that the state law has an unacceptable medical emergency provision that voids the entire statute.

The petition for reconsideration will keep the law in effect until the court decides whether to review the case.

Supporters of the law had expected it to be thrown out by the appellate court, but they intend to push the case to the U.S. Supreme Court for the ultimate decision.

The three-judge panel unanimously ruled last week that while the state had a legitimate interest in ensuring parents are included in decisions by their minor daughters about abortion, it chose the wrong way to do it.

The 65-page ruling reversed a December 2001 order by U.S. Magistrate Mikel Williams upholding key provisions of the law passed a year earlier. Wasden said the 11-member appellate panel will be asked to adopt Williams’ analysis.

Williams threw out some provisions of the law, but he upheld the medical emergency scheme, ruling that the definition of medical emergency was broad enough to protect constitutional rights.

But the appellate court said there was no reasonable explanation for limiting medical emergency abortions to “sudden and unexpected” instances of physical complications. Doctors are permitted to perform other procedures on minors in emergencies that do not fit in the category of “sudden and unexpected,” the court said.

Once a medical condition exists, the right to an abortion to protect the woman’s health or life overtakes the state’s interests in preserving potential life, the court held.