IDAHO SUPREME COURT ALLOWS NEAR-TOTAL ABORTION BAN TO TAKE EFFECT

WASHINGTON: Idaho’s top court on Friday refused to stop a Republican-backed state law criminalising nearly all abortions from taking effect after the US Supreme Court overturned the 1973 decision Roe v Wade that had recognised a constitutional right to the procedure.

In a 3- 2 ruling, the Idaho Supreme Court rejected a bid by a Planned Parenthood affiliate to prevent a ban from taking effect on August 25 that the abortion provider argued would violate Idahoans’ privacy and equal protection rights under the state’s constitution.

The measure allows for abortions only in cases of rape, incest or to prevent a pregnant woman’s death. The court also lifted an earlier order that it issued in April blocking a separate Idaho law banning abortion after six weeks of pregnancy enforced through private lawsuits by citizens, allowing it to take effect immediately.

Separately, the Louisiana Supreme Court on Friday denied an appeal filed by plaintiffs in the ongoing legal battle over the state’s abortion ban, allowing the ban to stay in effect.

The ruling marked a major blow to abortion-rights advocates and providers, who had hoped the ban would be blocked for a third time, allowing Louisiana’s three abortion clinics to restart performing procedures.

Since the US Supreme Court’s decision in June, access to abortion has fluctuated as the state’s three clinics relied on rulings and temporary restraining orders that allowed them to continue operating.

In Kansas, the elections director says the state will go along with a request for a hand recount of votes from every county after last week’s decisive statewide vote affirming abortion rights, even though there was a 165,000-vote difference and a recount won’t change the result.

Melissa Leavitt, of Colby in far western Kansas, requested the recount and declined to comment to reporters on Friday evening, citing work obligations.