Nate Raymond

(Reuters) – Idaho’s highest court temporarily stopped a six-week-old abortion ban that was recently enacted from going into effect. It is based on a Texas law which allows private citizens to sue providers for abortion.

The Idaho Supreme Court in a two-page order https://tmsnrt.rs/3upiqzO prevented the law from being implemented until the court could hear a challenge by Planned Parenthood seeking to invalidate the measure, which was to take effect on April 22.

Planned Parenthood Great Northwest and Hawaii, Alaska, Indiana, Kentucky, three of the state’s abortion clinics, applied to the court last week for it to be declared unconstitutional. It was signed into law by Republican Governor Brad Little.

Idaho became the first state in the country to have a law similar to the one in Texas, which went into effect on September 9. This law gives citizens the right to sue anyone performing or aiding a woman’s abortion within six weeks.

Idaho’s law is more restrictive than Texas’s. It allows only the relatives of a foetus to sue doctors who perform abortions following detection of fetal heart activity, which is usually within six weeks of gestation.

SB 1309 provides for a $20,000 minimum award and legal fees to litigants.

It is similar to the Texas law in that it prohibits state officials from applying it. This unique feature has made it difficult for opponents to contest the Texas measure before federal courts. They can also sue state officials to stop enforcement.

Planned Parenthood argues Idaho’s law is not constitutional under Roe v. Wade. The 1973 U.S. Supreme Court case that legalized abortion nationwide made it illegal.

A 6-3 majority of conservative justices make up the U.S. Supreme Court. They appeared to be open to Rolling Back or Overturning Roe V. Wade in December by allowing Mississippi to have a one-week abortion ban.

Little’s Office and Planned Parenthood did not respond when asked.