Idaho Becomes Sixth State to Consider Murder Charges for Abortion Patients

2.7.25

Read for a brief overview or click to skip ahead: All Eyes On Extremism looks at the sixth state to introduce legislation to punish abortion patients as murderers.

You Love to See It shares a fantastic new resource for pregnant people seeking care.

Attacks on Privacy has some good news on Indiana’s move to make abortion reports public records.

In the States, news from Wyoming, Kentucky, Minnesota, Illinois, Ohio, Arizona and more.

In the Nation has the latest on the Trump administration’s purge of reproductive health information on government websites, Trump’s gift to the anti-abortion movement, and the latest (sigh) White House confirmation.

Stats & Studies explains how not to poll on abortion.

Keep An Eye On the right-wing media attack machine going after anyone pro-choice.

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All Eyes on Extremism

One of my 2025 predictions was that anti-abortion ‘abolitionists’—the extremists who want women charged with murder for having abortions—would go mainstream. These mostly-male fanatics draft and push legislation that classifies abortion as homicide, and in some cases, would even allow the death penalty for patients. Incredibly, they call them ‘equal protection’ legislation.

Just two weeks after that prediction, Abortion, Every Day reported that four states—Indiana, South Carolina, Oklahoma, and North Dakota—were considering such bills. Texas joined soon after. Four of those five states allow the death penalty for homicide.

Now, Idaho has become the sixth state to join this shameful list. Republicans there have introduced the “Idaho Prenatal Equal Protection Act,” which would classify abortion as homicide. And before you ask—yes, Idaho has the death penalty.

The bill comes from Republican Rep. Brandon Shippy, who has a very specific vision for what enforcement of his law would look like. From the Idaho Statesman,

”Shippy, a freshman lawmaker—and owner of a sprinkler installation company—said his bill could authorize law enforcement to investigate women who say they have had a miscarriage but are suspected of having sought an abortion.”

And there it is. But before you let the rage take over, let’s break this paragraph down strategically.

First: He’s a freshman lawmaker. That means the abortion ‘abolitionist’ crew is working hard to get their people into state legislatures. Second: Shippy’s comment about having police investigate miscarriages didn’t come out of nowhere. Remember, these bills are drafted by and lobbied for by a specific group of ‘abolitionists.’ I’m willing to bet that this is something he heard from them.

In other words, the notion of investigating women’s miscarriages isn’t something one weirdo legislator is suggesting—though that would be bad enough. It’s part of a coordinated effort by a growing, well-organized group of lobbyists who are drafting legislation with the intent of authorizing investigations into women’s pregnancy losses.

And despite Republicans’ constant claims that they don’t want to punish women—that these kinds of bills are just the work of a few fringe extremists—more and more of them are signing on or, at the very least, willing to entertain the idea.

The Idaho bill has ten cosponsors. According to the Idaho Statesman, every Republican on the Senate State Affairs Committee voted to introduce it. And while the Senate GOP caucus says they won’t advance the bill, their official statement said the legislation “will inspire healthy dialogue on this subject.”

I know there’s a lot going on, but I want you to think about this: There are six states considering bills to punish abortion patients as killers, five of which could punish them with the death penalty. And it’s not a front page story. Remember what I said about normalizing?

You Love to See It

Leave it to ProPublica! The nonprofit newsroom has published a fantastic resource for pregnant people—an explainer on the lifesaving medical care you’re entitled to and how to actually access it.

The guide covers everything from finding doctors and hospitals most likely to provide the care you need, to preparing for emergencies, to advocating for yourself if a provider tries to deny you treatment.

And yes, it’s bleak as hell that this even needs to exist. But with so much confusion and misinformation out there, this is the kind of service journalism that can genuinely save lives.

Read and share ProPublica’s resource document here.

Attacks on Privacy

Earlier this week, I reported that Indiana abortion reports would now be classified as public records, thanks to a settlement between the state health department and an anti-abortion group hell-bent on getting their hands on them. But here’s some good news: Total fucking hero Dr. Caitlin Bernard is suing to stop it.

Bernard and another OBGYN are taking Indiana’s Health Commissioner and Voices for Life—the group leading this crusade—to court to keep those records private.

If Dr. Bernard’s name sounds familiar, it’s because she’s the abortion provider who became a target of Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita after she came forward about a 10-year-old rape victim forced to leave her state for care. Rokita weaponized the power of his office to go after Bernard’s medical license, even though she did nothing wrong. The goal was to send a message to any other doctors thinking about speaking up: Embarrass Republicans, and we’ll make your life miserable.

For more on the fight over abortion records in Indiana, click here and here. And remember: This isn’t just about one state. It’s a broader strategy that puts all of us at risk.

In the States

Wyoming Republicans claim that their bill to force women into unnecessary transvaginal ultrasounds before having an abortion is about women’s “safety.” But Oil City News reports that Wyoming House Speaker Chip Neiman inadvertently let the truth slip on the floor this week. Neiman, a sponsor of the legislation, said, “Bang, you got me. I want the mother to be able to have time to think about this.”

So much bullshit packed into one sentence! Leaving aside his calling a pregnant woman a ‘mother,’ Neiman is flat-out admitting this has nothing to do with health or safety. It’s about stalling and shaming women. Giving them time to “think?” As if anyone who’s ever had an unwanted pregnancy thinks about anything else!

Also in Wyoming, the wackadoodle bill drafted by Students for Life claiming that abortion medication and fetal remains are poisoning the groundwater passed out of committee and will be debated in the state House. (For more on this legal strategy, click here.)

Meanwhile, Kentucky Republicans have introduced legislation that would make it illegal to prescribe abortion medication to anyone in the state. What makes Senate Bill 106 and House Bill 316 so interesting (in the worst way possible) is that they’re not just banning abortion pills in the state—but crossing state lines and making it illegal to ship abortion medication to a Kentucky resident.

Now, Kentucky can’t tell a New York provider to stop shipping abortion pills; they don’t have jurisdiction. But as we’ve seen from what’s happening in Louisiana, conservative lawmakers and prosecutors are eager to target out-of-state providers regardless. I’ll have more on this as the bills advance.

In better news, Minnesota Congresswoman Angie Craig is sponsoring a legislation to protect access to contraception. It seems like birth control access would be a given, especially in Minnesota, but as Craig said in a statement, “with extreme Republicans chipping away at women’s protective rights by the day, we have no choice but to enshrine this protection into law.”

Illinois Democrats are eyeing legislation to allow abortion providers to keep their names off prescription labels for abortion medication. Earlier this week, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul signed a law that does just that for providers in my home state; the legislation makes it that much more difficult for zealous out-of-state prosecutors and attorneys general to identify and target New York providers.

Illinois Rep. Kelly Cassidy tells Crain’s, "We are looking at it, talking to colleagues in New York, stakeholders here, and running the traps to make sure we avoid any unintended consequences.” I’ll keep you updated on this one.

Speaking of legislators taking abortion rights clues from other states, Ohio Democrats have followed in the footsteps of Mississippi lawmakers by introducing the “Conception Begins at Erection Act.” The bill would make it illegal for a man to ejaculate without the intent to fertilize an egg—a symbolic piece of legislation meant to draw attention to the way that men’s bodies aren’t legislated.

I have an unpopular opinion on these types of bills: I don’t really like them! I understand the intent, and the idea is clever. But they feel a little too lighthearted for me right now. Feel free to disagree in comments!

Finally, Arizona lawmakers are working to repeal abortion restrictions in the state now that voters passed Proposition 139, which protects abortion rights until fetal ‘viability.’ Democrats introduced eight bills to overturn some of Arizona’s abortion laws. One bill, from state Sen. Analise Ortiz, would repeal 20 of those restrictions in swoop. “The voters themselves spoke loudly in November," she said.

Quick hits:

• Colorado Democrats want to codify EMTALA protections for abortion into state law.

• Planned Parenthood in Missouri is asking a judge to block the onerous licensing requirements preventing them from providing abortion care.

• More on the legislation advancing in Arkansas that would force anti-abortion propaganda into public schools.

• And Isthmus on how abortion rights in Wisconsin will come down to the state Supreme Court race.

In the Nation

By now, you all know that the Trump administration is deleting (and ‘modifying’) vital health information from government websites like the CDC and HHS. Abortion, Every Day has been collecting and re-uploading those documents at CDCGuidelines.com—we just added a new batch today.

But Trump’s team isn’t just deleting reproductive health info—they’re actively redirecting people searching for it. The Hill reported yesterday that anyone searching for ‘abortion’ on the CDC’s website is now asked if they’d like to search for ‘adoption’ instead. Hmm.

Meanwhile, the Senate just confirmed Russell Vought—Trump’s pick for White House budget director. (Don’t click the link unless you’re ready for his insufferable smirk.) Vought isn’t just a Trump lackey—he’s a key Project 2025 architect, a former GOP platform policy director, and the guy who rewrote the Republican abortion plank to be even more extreme—then bragged about it. Students for Life once called, “Trump’s most pro-life cabinet member.”

In a statement, Reproductive Freedom for All president Mini Timmaraju put it bluntly, “Trump ran scared of his association with Project 2025 on the campaign trail, but he installed a key player in his cabinet who is eager to set that plan into motion.”

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Read Abortion, Every Day’s Project 2025 explainer:

Project 2025 & Abortion

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Trump signed an order this week to end so-called “anti-Christian bias” in the federal government—yet another gift to the anti-abortion movement. Trump announced a task force would be dedicated to “fully prosecute anti-Christian violence and vandalism in our society,” claiming that anti-abortion protesters were being persecuted and jailed for praying.

The truth? The two dozen extremists Trump pardoned recently were jailed for attacking abortion clinics, assaulting staff members, and blocking patients from getting care.

This is all part of a broader move to appease the anti-abortion movement. In addition to the pardons and this week’s order, Trump also told the March for Life that they’d “never” be arrested again, and had the Department of Justice announce that they wouldn’t enforce the FACE Act—federal protections for abortion clinics.

In other words, he’s given these maniacs the green light to harass and do violence to clinics without fear of consequence.

Stats & Studies

Let’s talk about how not to poll on abortion rights. Yesterday, Brigham Young University put out their annual American Family Survey, which surveys thousands of Americans on issues from marriage and economics to—you guessed it!—abortion.

But the questions that pollsters asked are the textbook example of how we end up with skewed and incorrect data on public opinion on abortion. For example, the American Family Survey reports that only 7% of voters want abortion “fully legal.” But multiple other polls show that the vast majority of Americans don’t want abortion legislated by the government at all—as much as 81%!

So what gives? It’s all in the way pollsters ask questions. Specifically, the America Family Survey adopted a conservative framework, asking people when abortion should be legislated rather than if abortion should be legislated. The result? A skewed picture that buries the reality: Most Americans don’t want the government involved in pregnancy decisions, period.

We’re going to see a lot more studies like this over the next few years—polls designed to suggest that Americans want some vague ‘middle ground’ on abortion. (As if there’s a compromise to be made on our humanity.) It’s a lie. But Republicans are desperate for a way to sell abortion restrictions as ‘reasonable’—anything to make their bans more palatable to voters.

We can’t let that happen. There’s no such thing as a ‘reasonable’ abortion ban, and besides—it’s not what Americans want. Read more from Abortion, Every Day on polling here and here.

Keep An Eye On

Anti-abortion groups aren’t just targeting statehouses—their shock-and-awe strategy is about silencing anyone who speaks up for abortion rights. Case in point: This week, the right-wing media machine went after Michigan Rep. Laurie Pohutsky after she spoke at a protest about her decision to undergo sterilization surgery.

The Democratic lawmaker explained that she made the choice “to ensure that I would never have to navigate a pregnancy in Donald Trump’s America.” She added, “I refuse to let my body be treated as currency by an administration that only sees value in my ability to procreate.”

Her comments set off a conservative media firestorm. Right-wing outlets blasted her photo to millions, mocked her relentlessly, and unleashed a wave of predictable harassment—including death threats. One caller left a voicemail at her office saying, “You godless people are going to get eliminated. Just wanted to let you know. You’re on notice.”

Pohutsky responded yesterday with a tweet that cut to the heart of the issue: “The fact that so many conservative men take personal offense to a decision that I made with my husband about my health care and future just proves the point that we shouldn’t assume that right is secure.”

And she’s exactly right—why do conservatives care? If they wanted to prove they aren’t obsessed with controlling women’s reproductive choices, this is definitely not the way to go about it.

Let’s be real: Harassment like this is intended to have a chilling effect, and to send a message to anyone else thinking about speaking up. And these attacks aren’t limited to public officials.

I’ve warned before that conservative outlets are increasingly targeting college students and professors over even a hint of anything pro-choice. This week, for example, the right-wing College Fix and the extremist anti-abortion group Live Action (which has a tremendous social media following) put Ithaca College in their cross-hairs.

Their supposed scandal? A single feminist theory class focused on abortion bans and anti-LGBTQ legislation. Conservative reporters hounded the professor for comment, tracked students in the class, and churned out sensationalist headlines designed to put a target on their backs.

Keep a close eye on this tactic, and be safe out there.