Idaho court tosses lawsuit that aimed to block abortion bans

Idaho's Constitution does not implicitly enshrine abortion as a fundamental right, the state Supreme Court ruled Thursday as it dismissed a lawsuit brought by Planned Parenthood.

The ruling was a blow against those who are fighting Idaho laws that took effect in August, including one criminalizing all abortions after six weeks of gestation except to save a pregnant person’s life or because of rape or incest.

“This is a dark day for the state of Idaho. But our fight is far from over,” Rebecca Gibron, CEO of Planned Parenthood Great Northwest, Hawaii, Indiana, Kentucky, said in a statement.

The lawsuit against the governor and leaders of the Legislature had sought to block the implementation and enforcement of the state's new abortion laws that would let certain family members of a fetus sue health care professionals who perform abortions, the abortion ban, and a third provision making it a crime for medical professionals to perform an abortion after electrical activity is detected.

Planned Parenthood claimed the laws offend constitutional principles such as equal protection and due process, the high court justices noted.

But a majority of the justices said in the ruling that the state Constitution offers no fundamental right to abortion.

“Since Idaho attained statehood in 1890, this Court has repeatedly and steadfastly interpreted the Idaho Constitution based on the plain and ordinary meaning of its text,” the justices said.

If they made the jump and concluded that the document implicitly protected abortion rights, the Constitution “would be effectively replaced by the voice of a select few sitting on this Court,” the justices maintained.

Idaho Supreme Court Justice Colleen Zahn dissented with the court’s opinion, saying “Idaho’s Constitution did not freeze rights as...