Idaho legislator announces plan to propose bill that classifies abortion as first-degree murder

An Idaho state senator has announced his plan to propose a bill that would classify abortions as first-degree murder.

Under the bill, both the doctor and the woman who obtained an abortion will be charged with first-degree murder, except in cases when the mother's life is at risk.

Sen. Dan Foreman of Moscow said that his bill would not make an exception for cases of incest or rape.

"We are still faced with looking at the death of an innocent child. Why should the child pay for the sins of the person who committed the rape or the incest?" he said.

Other lawmakers have expressed concern about the plan, stating that the government has no authority to decide what a woman should do with her own body.

"From a constitutional standpoint, in the landmark case of Roe v. Wade, the U.S. Supreme Court recognized that the Constitution protects a woman's right to make her own medical decisions, including her decision to have an abortion," Said Sen. Cherie Buckner-Webb.

Buckner-Webb expressed her belief that the proposal will not make it to the Senate floor based on constitutionality, but she expressed her intention to oppose the bill if it reaches that level.

Foreman argued that his proposal is not about telling a woman what to do with her body but about protecting the unborn child.

"I don't want to tell a woman what to do with her body, and neither should the government. But using that same logic, how can a woman tell her unborn child it has to die? Who represents the child?" he said.

Rep. Randy Armstrong, who is strongly against abortion, said that the bill has no chance of passing, adding that not many people are in favor of criminalizing abortion.

The Idaho statutes classify killing of an unborn fetus or embryo as murder, but the prosecution of committing the said offense have been suspended, according to East Idaho News.

A group based in Coeur d'Alene called Abolish Abortion Idaho has launched a petition to remove the prohibition on the prosecution of those involved in abortions.

Other states have sought to charge doctors who perform abortions with murder, but Foreman believes that his measure would be the first effort since the Roe v. Wade ruling to include the mother as well.