Threat to Abortion Rights Reaches Oregon’s Border After Idaho Passes “Heartbeat Bill”

Oregon now borders a state that outlaws most abortions.

The Idaho Legislature on March 14 passed a so-called heartbeat bill that closely mirrors an abortion ban by the same name in Texas that the U.S. Supreme Court refused to block following a 5-4 vote in September. Idaho’s bill prohibits abortion of a “preborn child” once a fetal heartbeat has been detected—usually around six weeks into a pregnancy when the embryo is the size of a pomegranate seed.

The bill states that “any female upon whom an abortion has been attempted or performed, the father of the preborn child,” a grandparent, sibling, aunt or uncle may sue the medical provider for at least $20,000 in damages.

Unlike the Texas law, Idaho’s does carve out an exception for pregnancies that result from incest or rape, with the caveat that the person seeking an abortion must have filed a police report before terminating the pregnancy, and that they must share the report with the abortion provider.

On the heels of the Idaho’s bill passage, Oregon lawmakers on March 15 announced the $15 million Oregon Reproductive Health Equity Fund approved in the session’s final budget bill, which will “address immediate and urgent patient needs for abortion funds and practical support” like travel and lodging.

State Rep. Tawna Sanchez (D-North Portland) noted that Texas and Idaho’s abortion bills can affect Oregon. “People from states with more restrictive laws already travel to Oregon for abortion care, and we face the very real likelihood that other states will ban abortion and shutter clinics,” Sanchez said. “We are rising to this alarming moment to invest in abortion access as a central foundation of Oregon’s healthcare infrastructure.”