Billboards Encourage Idaho Residents Leave To Get Abortions

Planned Parenthood is paying for billboards in Idaho that direct pregnant residents seeking abortions to have the procedure done out of state, NBC’s KTVB 7 reported Tuesday.

Rebecca Gibron, head of the group’s Pacific Northwest, Hawaii, Alaska, Indiana, and Kentucky division, told the station that the six paid billboards are in response to controversial new Republican laws.

Since last year’s Dobbs decision, abortion has been completely illegal in Idaho except in cases where the mother’s life is in danger or in cases of rape and incest where an official police report has been filed.

In addition, it is illegal to aid pregnant minors in leaving the state to seek an abortion, and a person caught performing an illicit abortion may face two to five years of imprisonment.

“We’ve created this information campaign to let Idahoans know where they can access safe and legal abortion outside of the state of Idaho,” Gibron said.

“We intend to have these up for a good deal of time to help bring awareness for Idahoans who need access to abortion care, to bring awareness to where they can receive that care out of the state of Idaho,” she added.

Gibron also believes women residents are confused about Idaho’s abortion policy.

Although statutory law only bars minors from leaving the state to seek an abortion, a March letter from Attorney General Raúl Labrador to state Rep. Brent Crane, both Republicans, suggested that it was more extensive.

Labrador’s office later stated that the letter should not be construed as an official opinion.

Planned Parenthood is still suing the top prosecutor, however, over fears it could be misappropriated as one in the future.

“During our first hearing with the judge, his office refused to disavow the opinions contained in that letter, and I think that’s significant,” Gibron shared. “It is absolutely having a chilling effect on providers, and it’s really getting in the way of that relationship between the physician and their patient.”