The law signed this Wednesday by the governor, allows the families of women who have undergone an abortion to file a complaint against the clinics or doctors who carried out the intervention.
A new US state, Idaho, on Wednesday passed a law authorizing civil lawsuits against medical professionals practicing abortions, the latest episode in a vast conservative offensive to curtail the right to abortion. in the country.
This law, signed Wednesday by the governor, allows the families of women who have undergone an abortion (as well as the fathers of the fetus even if it is the result of rape) to file a complaint against the clinics or doctors who performed the abortion. ‘intervention. It is modeled after a similar law that has generated considerable controversy in Texas.
Such an approach “weakens our collective freedoms”
The governor of Idaho, Brad Little, claimed to be an ardent defender of the rights of “unborn babies” but worried that this law, which amounted “to delegating the power to private citizens to impose heavy fines . . . for the purpose of evading judicial scrutiny” be declared contrary to the Constitution of the United States.
Such an approach undermines institutions and “weakens our collective freedoms”, he warns in a letter addressed to local parliamentarians.
Taking up the arguments of critics of the Texas law, Governor Little notes that this type of law could end up turning against other rights dear to conservatives, such as the right to own and carry a firearm.
The new law has been denounced by human rights defenders as well as the White House.