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- Idaho agrees not to prosecute doctors for out-of-state abortion referrals</p>
<p>Jonathan StempelJuly 17, 2025 at 11:33 PM</p>
<p>By Jonathan Stempel</p>
<p>(Reuters) -Idaho, which has a near-total ban on abortion, agreed not to prosecute or take away licenses of doctors who refer patients out of state to obtain the procedure, under a consent decree approved by a federal judge on Thursday.</p>
<p>The decree prevents Idaho's Republican Attorney General Raul Labrador and county prosecutors from prosecuting healthcare providers who refer, counsel or otherwise provide information to patients seeking abortions in other states.</p>
<p>A local Planned Parenthood affiliate sued Idaho in April 2023 to block enforcement, after Labrador said the referrals could violate state law and require license suspensions for doctors who make them.</p>
<p>Planned Parenthood said the restriction violated the U.S. Constitution by infringing doctors' First Amendment free speech rights and regulating lawful out-of-state reproductive health services.</p>
<p>A federal appeals court blocked enforcement last December. During oral arguments, a lawyer for Labrador said the attorney general would not prosecute people for making the referrals.</p>
<p>Idaho makes it a crime to perform or attempt to perform abortions, or for healthcare providers to assist in abortions, with narrow exceptions.</p>
<p>The decree covering Planned Parenthood and two doctors was approved by U.S. District Judge B. Lynn Winmill in Boise.</p>
<p>"Idaho's strong pro-life laws remain fully in effect, and we remain proud to defend the rights of mothers and their unborn children," Labrador said in a statement.</p>
<p>"This settlement simply affirms what our office already made clear in court: we do not have the authority to prosecute referrals for out-of-state services."</p>
<p>Rebecca Gibron, chief executive of Planned Parenthood Great Northwest, Hawaii, Alaska, Indiana, Kentucky, said in a statement that the decree "affirms something every patient deserves: open, honest care from a provider they trust."</p>
<p>The U.S. Supreme Court eliminated the federal constitutional right to abortion in 2022, overturning the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision.</p>
<p>Eighteen Republican-led states have total abortion bans or ban abortions at or before the 12th week of pregnancy, according to the nonprofit Guttmacher Institute, which focuses on reproductive health.</p>
<p>(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York, Editing by Alexia Garamfalvi and Richard Chang)</p>
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