Since the overturning of Roe v. Dobbs in 2022, Idaho has banned doctors from providing almost all abortions – unless the pregnancy is the result of rape, incest or threatens the life of the mother.
On Thursday, a federal judge narrowly expanded access to care by ruling a woman can get an abortion if her health is in danger – or if she is at risk of taking her own life.
In his decision, U.S. District Court of Idaho Judge B. Lynn Winmill said the ban contradicted the longstanding right to defend oneself from harm.
“The brain is an organ of the body, and healthcare providers use empirical tools to reliably assess the risk of suicidality and the most effective treatments,” he wrote in an 81-page document.
“It is an affront to human dignity to bar pregnant women from receiving life saving care on the basis that the threat comes from a mental health condition, rather than a physical health condition.”
The judge also wrote this case was not about litigating a woman’s right to choose.
“Rather, it is about a pregnant woman’s ability to seek necessary obstetric care under the most difficult and tragic circumstances. It is about whether the state may pick and choose which life-threatening conditions can justify an abortion,” Winmill said.
Plaintiff Dr. Stacy Seyb, a maternal fetal medicine physician specializing in complicated pregnancies, challenged Idaho’s strict abortion ban in a trial in June.
“This case was about him being able to offer abortions to his patients, when there's a medical indication to do so,” said Tanya Pellegrini from the Lawyering Project, the organization representing Seyb.
She said this latest ruling will keep pregnant patients safe from death or preventable illnesses.
“It shows that mental health is not different than physical health and shouldn't be treated differently under the law or under the Constitution,” she said.
Mental health conditions were the leading cause of pregnancy-related deaths in the state from 2020 to 2024, according to the Idaho Maternal Mortality Review Committee.
“[Seyb] wants to offer abortion care to patients with serious medical needs without fear of criminal prosecution or professional discipline,” Pellegrini added.
Under Idaho’s ban, physicians can lose their medical licenses, face felony charges and up to five years in prison for providing care that does not fall under the law’s exceptions. Medical professionals have argued the law is confusing, leaving doctors wondering what care they can and cannot provide their patients.
In an email Friday, the office of Idaho Attorney General Raúl Labrador said they would appeal the decision immediately.
“Judge Winmill did exactly what the Supreme Court rejected in Dobbs: he legislated from the bench and manufactured a new constitutional right to abortion. The Supreme Court made clear that abortion policy belongs to the people and their elected representatives, not a single federal judge,” the email read.
