U.S. District Judge Lynn Winmill ruled that Idaho's near-total abortion ban is unconstitutional because it does not provide exceptions for broader risks to pregnant women's health, only for life-saving measures. In an 81-page ruling, Winmill stated that the right to a health-preserving abortion is protected by the 14th Amendment.
The decision, issued late Thursday, is the first by a federal judge to recognize a constitutional right to abortion in certain circumstances since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022. Winmill blocked the enforcement of two Idaho laws that prohibit doctors from providing abortion care to patients with serious medical conditions, including mental health conditions that could increase the risk of self-harm and suicide.
Idaho Attorney General Raul Labrador, a Republican, stated that his office would appeal the ruling, calling it an instance of the judge "legislating from the bench" and "manufactur[ing] a new constitutional right to abortion."
Lawyers for the plaintiff, maternal-fetal medicine specialist Stacy Seyb, welcomed the decision. Stephanie Toti, executive director of The Lawyering Project, said the ruling reduces the risk of death or serious injury to pregnant individuals in Idaho from preventable causes.
The Idaho Family Policy Center, a conservative group opposing abortion, noted that the state's abortion ban largely remains in effect, including provisions allowing relatives of an aborted fetus to sue providers. Blaine Conzatti, the group's president, stated that physicians performing prohibited abortions could still face legal liability.
Judge Winmill declined to block a ban on abortions for fetuses with life-limiting conditions unless the condition posed a serious threat to the mother's health, acknowledging that some might find the law cruel but that the Constitution allows state lawmakers such discretion. However, he wrote that prohibiting women from obtaining essential medical care when pregnancy poses a severe danger contradicts a long tradition of recognizing abortions as necessary to prevent serious and lasting harm.
