Idaho legislator wants to ban state funding for abortion and referrals to abortion clinics
Idaho legislators will make another attempt to defund abortion providers this year.
Rep. Bruce Skaug, R-Nampa, on Wednesday introduced a new bill to deny state funding to abortion providers — or social workers who refer clients to abortion services.
The legislation would not ban abortions — but it would prohibit state contracts or transactions with an abortion provider. It also restricts public employees from procuring, counseling someone on abortion services, or referring to abortion. The bill aims to be applied to broadly to school districts, public health districts, counties and cities.
“This is not the end-all for those who have concerns about abortion, as I do,” Skaug said in a committee meeting Wednesday.
Reps. John Gannon, D-Boise, and Chris Mathias, D-Boise, voted against introducing the bill.
Abortion has been legal in all 50 states since the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that state laws criminalizing abortion in the first three months of pregnancy violated a woman’s constitutional right of privacy.
Last year, a similar House bill that aimed to ban public funding to abortion providers passed in the House with a 52-17 vote but didn’t make it to the Senate floor.
Few abortion clinics exist in Idaho, and they aren’t allowed to collect state funding. While federal and state laws already prohibit public money from being used for abortions, they don’t restrict public employees from referring patients to abortion services or funding medical providers that offer a range of other health care services. This bill aims to change that.
In an interview with the Statesman on Wednesday, Skaug said if the bill is approved, health districts could lose state funding if their employees refer people to abortion services.
Idaho’s Health and Welfare website currently refers to abortion services. When asked whether Skaug would want state websites to be scrubbed of abortion references, he said he would have to look at the website before commenting.
Federal law also allows public money for abortions in cases when the pregnant woman’s life is in danger or when the pregnancy resulted from rape or incest.
In a legal review of the bill introduced last year, the Idaho Attorney General’s Office said the measure would have been “legally defensible” if it made exceptions for abortions performed to save a woman’s life or in cases of rape or incest, and if it allowed funding for qualified Medicaid providers.
Skaug’s draft bill this year aims to provide for those exceptions and exempts hospitals.
One Planned Parenthood affiliate operates three health centers — in Boise, Meridian and Twin Falls. But Planned Parenthood can’t collect federal or state funding for abortion, said Mistie DelliCarpini-Tolman, Idaho state director at Planned Parenthood Votes Northwest and Hawaii.
In a statement Wednesday, DelliCarpini-Tolman said the bill is nothing more than a distraction and one to excite the anti-abortion base.
“While our country reacts to this historic moment at our nation’s capital today, we shouldn’t be surprised to see our elected officials try and redirect attention to their anti-science, anti-mask, anti-abortion agenda,” DelliCarpini-Tolman said. “This bill is based on nothing more than an extreme agenda. We need our elected officials to stop playing games and start addressing the real concerns of Idahoans.”
Skaug said his bill isn’t meant to target any specific organization.
“This is to prevent, now or in the future, any public funding or state monies for abortion or any support of abortion,” Skaug said.
