Attorney General Bonta: Individuals Should Make Healthcare Decisions with Their Doctor, Free from Political Interference

Joins multistate coalition opposing Idaho’s ‘horrific’ law criminalizing those assisting minors seeking abortions in other states

OAKLAND — California Attorney General Rob Bonta today joined a coalition of 19 states in support of a legal challenge of Idaho’s latest attack on reproductive rights, which would potentially punish medical providers and residents of states outside of Idaho for giving information and assistance to minors who access lawful abortion in those states. In the brief, filed in Matsumoto v. Labrador, the attorneys general write in support of the plaintiffs, arguing that the law not only puts pregnant Idahoans at risk, but also threatens the freedom of people beyond Idaho’s borders, who are acting lawfully and abiding by the reproductive rules of their own state.

“The horrific reality is that individuals across the country have been robbed of their reproductive freedom and are facing extreme and dangerous abortion laws since Roe v. Wade was overturned,” said Attorney General Bonta. “Let me be very clear: Individuals should be making healthcare decisions with their doctor, free from political interference. As we continue to face repeated attacks to reproductive freedom, my office remains unwavering in our commitment to protect access to reproductive healthcare.”

In 2020, Idaho enacted SB 1385, which makes it a felony for any adult to help a pregnant minor access abortion care or obtain medication for an abortion if that help is deemed to have been provided with an intent to conceal the abortion from a parent or guardian. Idaho has interpreted the vague and unspecific language in the law to open up the possibility that any adult in any state providing any kind of abortion help to a minor in Idaho — even in the form of information, links, or resources — might be in violation of the law. With the Supreme Court’s ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization overturning Roe v. Wade, Idaho’s law was triggered to automatically take effect on August 25, 2022.

Since then, Attorney General Bonta and attorneys general across this country have urged the Idaho district court to block enforcement of Idaho’s abortion travel law, SB 1385. On November 8, 2023, the district court granted plaintiffs’ motion for a preliminary injunction and enjoined Idaho from enforcing SB 1385. Idaho appealed and the case is now pending in the Ninth Circuit.

In their amicus brief, the attorneys general assert that SB 1385 will create a climate of fear and uncertainty among healthcare providers, reproductive health organizations, and other adults in their own states, and inhibit them from providing appropriate care, information, and counseling to their patients, clients, relatives, and friends in Idaho. This not only impinges on the reproductive liberties and rights constitutionally guaranteed under many of the amici states’ own laws and constitutions, but also endangers the health, safety, and lives of pregnant minors in Idaho by creating barriers or causing delays in their ability to travel across state lines and access critical healthcare. While abortion is safe at virtually any stage — and, without question, far safer than carrying a pregnancy to term — delays in receiving abortion care make treatment more intensive, increasing risks to the patient and costs. In addition, many pregnancy and miscarriage complications require time-sensitive treatment, including abortion care, to stabilize emergency conditions. In such circumstances, any failure or delay in providing necessary abortion care puts the patient’s life or health at risk. 

Attorney General Bonta joins the attorneys general of Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawai‘i, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Washington.

A copy of the brief can be found here.