BOISE, Idaho — An Idaho law banning nearly all abortions would take effect if the U.S. Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 ruling that declared a nationwide right to abortion.
The court with a 6-3 conservative majority on Wednesday starts hearing arguments over a Mississippi law that bans abortions after 15 weeks.
Mississippi wants the court to overturn Roe v. Wade. If the court does that, an Idaho law passed in 2020 would be triggered in 30 days, banning all abortions except in cases of rape, incest or to protect the life of the mother.
Under the law, criminal punishment would be a felony and apply to the person performing the abortion, not the woman.
Legal experts say that the Idaho law would be triggered only when the high court makes a definitive ruling: A Texas bill signed into law earlier this year that allows anyone who performs or "aids and abets" an abortion to be sued did not prompt the Idaho law into effect because the U.S. Supreme Court declined to take it up.
Idaho's abortion ban, formerly known as Senate Bill 1385, states that the law shall become effective within 30 days of "the issuance of the judgment in any decision of the United States Supreme Court that restores to the states their authority to prohibit abortion" or "adoption of an amendment to the United States constitution that restores to the states their authority to prohibit abortion."
Idaho Governor Brad Little signed abortion legislation in early 2021 that specifically prohibits abortion procedures when a fetal heartbeat can be detected, with the exceptions included for rape, incest, and life of the mother. That bill, House Bill 366, goes into effect upon the issuance of any decision upholding a restriction or ban on abortion of a preborn child with a heartbeat by any United States appellate court.
Data from the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare shows that from 2008 to 2019, there was an average of about 1,400 abortions preformed every year.
A majority of those abortions were for woman ages 20 to 29.
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