Doctors complained about Idaho’s abortion law. Republicans propose this change

BOISE – Idaho lawmakers proposed Wednesday a new bill that could provide more scrutiny of the lawsuits filed against doctors who perform illegal abortions.

Senate Bill 1171 would allow a judge reviewing civil lawsuits against medical providers to see whether the person suing put enough evidence in the complaint to establish a case. The change would apply to a law that allows families to sue an abortion provider on civil charges for a minimum of $20,000. Idaho bans abortion in nearly all instances, and health care providers face prison time and loss of their medical license if they violate the law.

The proposal follows reports in the past few years that the laws prompted doctors to flee the state and exacerbated a physician shortage. Sen. Todd Lakey, R-Nampa, said the legislation would allow courts to review cases early in the process and dismiss those without merit.

“This provides some confidence to lawful medical providers in that process,” Lakey told lawmakers in a legislative committee Wednesday.

Democratic lawmakers and abortion rights advocates have pushed for an exception to the abortion ban that would allow the procedure in cases when a pregnant patient’s health is at risk. They’ve said a health exception would give physicians clearer parameters for treatment and would create more confidence and potentially help retain more doctors.

The newly proposed bill wouldn’t change the existing exceptions, which remain for ectopic and molar pregnancies, reported cases of rape and incest and to prevent the death of the mother.

“All it says is, you can’t be sued for violating the law frivolously,” Lakey said. “You can’t, essentially, weaponize the judicial system.”

Sen. Melissa Wintrow, D-Boise, told the Idaho Statesman that the bill doesn’t address physicians’ concerns.

“This isn’t even a Band-Aid. I am not sure why they introduced this bill,” Wintrow said. “What we need is a true legitimate health exception.”

Since the U.S. Supreme Court in June 2022 overturned Roe v. Wade, which provided the constitutional right to an abortion, and triggered Idaho’s abortion ban, medical providers have struggled to determine when the procedure violates the state’s laws. Patients undergoing miscarriages or complex pregnancies have had to seek care out of state, at times being airlifted out of the hospital, according to St. Luke’s Health System.

Little urged fix to law

The Department of Justice under former President Joe Biden sued Idaho over its laws, arguing the regulations conflict with the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act, or EMTALA.

That act defines “emergency medical conditions” as conditions that aren’t just life-threatening but also seriously endanger the health of the patient.

President Donald Trump’s administration dropped the lawsuit this year, but St. Luke’s Health System filed its own suit, according to previous Statesman reporting. U.S. District Judge B. Lynn Winmill granted a temporary restraining order in the case.

The Idaho Medical Association did not immediately return a request for comment on the new bill Wednesday. The Idaho Family Policy Center, a conservative lobbying group that pushed for the state’s abortion ban, declined to comment.

Idaho’s law on civil lawsuits allows a pregnant person who had an illegal abortion or an attempted abortion to sue. It also applies to the father of the fetus and the fetus’ grandparents, siblings, aunts or uncles. Civil lawsuits can only be filed over illegal abortions. The new bill would keep the same qualifications for relatives who can sue.

Gov. Brad Little in 2022 criticized the law’s potential impacts on survivors of sexual assault after signing the bill into law and urged lawmakers to fix the civil enforcement mechanism.

“I am particularly concerned for those vulnerable women and children who lack the capacity or familial support to report incest and sexual assault,” Little wrote in his transmittal letter. “Ultimately, this legislation risks retraumatizing victims by affording monetary (incentives) to wrongdoers and family members of rapists.”