Planned Parenthood sues Idaho over abortion reporting law

BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Planned Parenthood of the Great Northwest and the Hawaiian Islands is suing the state of Idaho in federal court over new abortion reporting requirements that critics say are unconstitutional and intended to stigmatize women seeking medical care.

Planned Parenthood filed the lawsuit in Idaho’s U.S. District Court on Tuesday, asking a judge to declare the reporting law void.

The law, which went into effect July 1, created a list of what lawmakers deemed to be complications of abortion, and it required health professionals to report when they occurred.

The list includes things that can typically occur in the immediate days after an abortion, such as bleeding, as well as things that are rare and typically considered by doctors to be unrelated to abortion procedures like an allergic reaction to anesthesia.

Abortion providers must also collect personal information about women receiving abortion procedures, such as age, race, number of children and the number of previous abortions.

Idaho’s reporting law aligns with a national trend among Republican-dominant statehouses seeking new ways to test the legal ability to restrict a woman’s right to terminate a pregnancy.

At least 20 states have reporting laws on the books, according to the Guttmacher Institute, which opposes abortion restrictions.

Previous laws targeting abortion rights have been struck down in Idaho and other states, with some courts saying there isn’t enough information about alleged complications of abortions to justify the laws.