Federal Judge Blocks Idaho From Prosecuting Doctors for Health-Protecting Abortions

A federal judge has ruled that Idaho cannot prosecute physicians who perform abortions to safeguard a pregnant patient's health or prevent self-harm, striking down key provisions of the state's near-total abortion ban.

U.S. District Judge B. Lynn Winmill issued the 81-page decision on Thursday, concluding that Idaho's "Defense of Life Act" and "Fetal Heartbeat Act" violate the due process and equal protection guarantees of the 14th Amendment. The laws, which together ban nearly all abortions, carry penalties including license revocation and up to five years in prison for violating doctors.

The ruling centers on the narrow gap between procedures that save a patient's life and those that prevent serious, non-lethal harm. Winmill wrote that the state cannot force a pregnant woman to endure severe suffering for the sake of an unborn child, drawing a parallel to the impossibility of compelling a mother to donate a kidney to her toddler.

Dr. Stacy Seyb, a Boise maternal-fetal medicine specialist who filed the lawsuit in 2024, said the decision allows him to treat patients with grave conditions without fear of prosecution. He had testified that he regularly refers patients in this legal gray area to other states, including several with severe complications who required air transport to Utah.

Winmill also rejected arguments that mental health conditions should be treated differently from physical ones, noting that suicide and overdose are leading causes of death among pregnant and postpartum people. He called barring life-saving care for mental health threats "an affront to human dignity."

However, the ruling does not extend to cases where the mother faces no elevated health risk, such as when a fetus has a fatal diagnosis or in multi-fetal pregnancies where reducing one fetus aids the survival of others. In those situations, Winmill found the state's interest in preventing mistaken diagnoses and affirming the dignity of people with disabilities is rationally served.

Idaho Attorney General Raul Labrador said he will appeal, expressing confidence the decision will be overturned. He argued that abortion policy belongs to elected representatives, not the judiciary.

Physicians still face potential civil liability under a separate state law allowing extended family members of an aborted fetus to sue providers for at least $20,000.

Idaho voters will weigh in this fall on a ballot initiative that would legalize abortion until fetal viability, generally considered after 21 weeks. Similar measures are pending in Virginia, Nevada, and Missouri.