Idaho Supreme Court won’t block strict abortion bans

BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Idaho’s strict abortion bans will be allowed to take effect while legal challenges over the laws play out in court, the Idaho Supreme Court ruled Friday.

The ruling means potential relatives of an embryo or fetus can now sue abortion providers over procedures done after six weeks of gestation — before many people know they are pregnant. Another stricter ban criminalizing all abortions takes effect later this month.

A doctor and a regional Planned Parenthood affiliate sued the state earlier this year over three anti-abortion laws, most designed to take effect should the U.S. Supreme Court overturn Roe v. Wade, which it did in June.

In a split ruling, the majority of justices on the Idaho Supreme Court said the laws could take effect but sped up the timeline for the lawsuits to be decided. Two justices agreed with expediting the cases, but said they felt the laws shouldn’t be enforced until the legal wrangling is complete.

“Tonight, the people of Idaho saw their bodily autonomy and reproductive freedom taken away,” Planned Parenthood Federation of America president Alexis McGill Johnson said in a news release. “The court’s decision today is horrific and cruel. But this isn’t the end of the fight, and it isn’t our last day in court. No one should see their lives used as pawns by their elected officials or judicial system.”