Four women bringing suit against the state of Idaho after having their "medically necessary" abortions denied due to a state law are beginning their testimony on Tuesday in a Boise courtroom.
Jennifer Adkins, the lead plaintiff against the state, will be the first of the four women to testify. According to the Center for Reproductive Rights, Adkins had a 12-week ultrasound reveal that her baby had skin edema and cystic hygroma. Her lawyers say that the conditions have a high mortality rate and that Adkins was told that her pregnancy was not viable.
Idaho's law only allows abortions when it is "necessary to prevent the death of the pregnant woman." Medical providers who violate the law are subject to two to five years in prison. Idaho's abortion laws make no exceptions for fatal fetal abnormalities.
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Adkins says that doctors told her that carrying the child to term could result in edema and preeclampsia.
"Though Jennifer was devastated by the news, it was clear to her that continuing the pregnancy would endanger her health," the Center for Reproductive Rights said. "Aware of Idaho’s abortion ban, she questioned her doctors, who admitted that if the state’s laws were different, they would have referred her to an in-state abortion clinic. But because of Idaho’s abortion laws, she would instead have to travel outside Idaho to get the care she needed."
The law has been in the midst of legal battles since 2022 when the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. The Biden administration has also been among those fighting Idaho's abortion ban.
“Here in Idaho, we are proud that we have led the country in protecting preborn lives. I will continue to work with Attorney General Lawrence Wasden to vigorously uphold state sovereignty and defend Idaho’s laws in the face of federal meddling,” said Idaho Gov. Brad Little in 2022.
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The Idaho law is considered among the strictest in the U.S.
