\n<\/p>\n
Remember, in the wake of the Supreme Court overturning<\/a> Roe v. Wade,<\/em> when a number of conservatives were like<\/a>, \u201cOh, relax, they\u2019re not banning abortion, they\u2019re just sending it back to the states\u201d\u2014the suggestion being that the situation wasn\u2019t as nearly dire as some people were making it out to be and that abortion would largely remain legal? Well, abortion has been sent back to the states, and here\u2019s what the states are doing with it<\/a>, per the Associated Press:<\/p>\n The new \u201cabortion trafficking\u201d law signed on Wednesday [in Idaho], is the first of its kind in the U.S. It makes it illegal to either obtain abortion pills for a minor or to help them leave the state for an abortion without their parents\u2019 knowledge and consent. Anyone convicted will face two to five years in prison and could also be sued by the minor\u2019s parent or guardian. Parents who raped their child will not be able to sue, though the criminal penalties for anyone who helped the minor obtain an abortion will remain in effect.<\/p>\n The law also gives the attorney general the ability to prosecute someone for alleged violations of the law, even if the county prosecutor\u2014who would normally be responsible for filing a criminal case\u2014declines to prosecute.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n It\u2019s hard to say which aspect of the new law is the most f–ked up, but we\u2019re going to have to go with the bit about the state reserving the right to prosecute and imprison someone for helping a child obtain an abortion after that child was raped by their parent.<\/em> (How big of Idaho to not allow the parent in that scenario to sue.)<\/p>\n In a statement, the Northwest Abortion Access Fund, which serves Idaho, Oregon, Washington, and Alaska, said<\/a>: \u201cMany minors do not have supportive or safe parents or guardians in their lives who they can ask to help them get an abortion. It\u2019s remarkable that lawmakers believe that young Idahoans don\u2019t have the capacity to make reproductive health care choices for themselves or deserve bodily autonomy, but believe that those same young people should have the capacity to raise and care for children on their own, without any major social or economic support.\u201d<\/p>\n Last year, Idaho banned<\/a> virtually all abortions in the state, prompting<\/a> the Justice Department to sue.<\/p>\n The new law signed Wednesday will go into effect in 30 days.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n