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STORY: "Idaho becomes the first U.S. state to restrict interstate travel for abortions, by Reporter Ryan Suppe (The Idaho Statesman) published by The Seattle Times, on April 6, 2023.
GIST; "Helping a minor travel to another state for an abortion without parental consent will be a felony in Idaho next month, barring a successful court challenge.
Republican Idaho Gov. Brad Little on Wednesday signed House Bill 242. It prohibits traveling with a minor to another state for an abortion, or helping a minor obtain an abortion-inducing drug, without consulting one of their parents or guardians.
The “abortion trafficking” crime is punishable by up to five years in prison." Little wrote in a letter to lawmakers that the law doesn’t prohibit interstate travel or block an adult from obtaining an abortion.
“Rather, the ‘abortion trafficking’ provision of the bill seeks only to prevent unemancipated minor girls from being taken across state lines for an abortion without the knowledge and consent of her parent or guardian,” Little wrote.
“It is something that, unfortunately, is happening, and I don’t think any of us want to see our minors not only trafficked but in this situation,” Ehardt told the House State Affairs Committee in February. “We will make sure that we have top-notch legal authority to deal with this.”
HB 242 allows an affirmative defense to prosecution — an opportunity to present evidence in court that negates a charge — if a “parent or guardian of the pregnant minor consented to trafficking of the minor.”
But Reps. John Gannon and Chris Mathias, both D-Boise, sent a letter Sunday to Little, urging the governor to veto the bill because of a lack of clarity around who qualifies as a parent.
The law doesn’t define “parent,” which will result in legal “chaos,” Boise family law attorney Johnathan Baldauf said in a news release distributed by the Democratic lawmakers.
For example, it could allow a parent without custody of their child — perhaps because of a hostile relationship — to consent to a minor’s abortion, the news release said.
“This bill completely ignores child custody orders and parental rights when it arbitrarily allows a non-custodial parent to cut a custodial parent out of the picture,” Mathias said in the release.
The law is scheduled to take effect in 30 days."
The entire story can be read at:
PUBLISHER'S NOTE: I am monitoring this case/issue/resource. Keep your eye on the Charles Smith Blog for reports on developments. The Toronto Star, my previous employer for more than twenty incredible years, has put considerable effort into exposing the harm caused by Dr. Charles Smith and his protectors - and into pushing for reform of Ontario's forensic pediatric pathology system. The Star has a "topic" section which focuses on recent stories related to Dr. Charles Smith. It can be found at: http://www.thestar.com/topic/charlessmith. Information on "The Charles Smith Blog Award"- and its nomination process - can be found at: http://smithforensic.blogspot.com/2011/05/charles-smith-blog-award-nominations.html Please send any comments or information on other cases and issues of interest to the readers of this blog to: hlevy15@gmail.com. Harold Levy: Publisher: The Charles Smith Blog;
SEE BREAKDOWN OF SOME OF THE ON-GOING INTERNATIONAL CASES (OUTSIDE OF THE CONTINENTAL USA) THAT I AM FOLLOWING ON THIS BLOG, AT THE LINK BELOW: HL:
https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/120008354894645705/4704913685758792985
FINAL WORD: (Applicable to all of our wrongful conviction cases): "Whenever there is a wrongful conviction, it exposes errors in our criminal legal system, and we hope that this case — and lessons from it — can prevent future injustices."
Lawyer Radha Natarajan:
Executive Director: New England Innocence Project;
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FINAL, FINAL WORD: "Since its inception, the Innocence Project has pushed the criminal legal system to confront and correct the laws and policies that cause and contribute to wrongful convictions. They never shied away from the hard cases — the ones involving eyewitness identifications, confessions, and bite marks. Instead, in the course of presenting scientific evidence of innocence, they've exposed the unreliability of evidence that was, for centuries, deemed untouchable." So true!
Christina Swarns: Executive Director: The Innocence Project;
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YET ANOTHER FINAL WORD:
David Hammond, one of Broadwater’s attorneys who sought his exoneration, told the Syracuse Post-Standard, “Sprinkle some junk science onto a faulty identification, and it’s the perfect recipe for a wrongful conviction.”
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