Republican Lieutenant-Governor and Gov. Janis McGitchin wants Republican Gov. Brad Little to convene a special session to end rape and incest as exceptions to the Idaho Abortion Act
By Kate Riedler Associated Press
9 May 2022, 23:04
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BOIS, Idaho – The Republican governor of Idaho and presidential candidate Janis McGitchin on Monday called on Republican Gov. Brad Little to convene a special legislative session to end rape and incest as legal exceptions to the Idaho Abortion Act.
Idaho law will take effect if the US Supreme Court overturns the remarkable Rowe v. Wade case, which legalizes abortion across the country.
McGitchin is running against Little in the Republican primary election in Idaho, and a statement said potential Idaho law was insufficient due to a number of exceptions. In addition to rape and incest, it allows abortions to save mothers’ lives.
“It’s a shame that abortion laws in Idaho aren’t the most pro-life in our country,” said McGitchin, who is backed by former President Donald Trump. “No child should be killed because of the circumstances surrounding his or her conception.”
In 2020, Little signed the so-called Trigger Act, proposed by a group called Idaho Chooses Life, which supported Little.
“It’s easy for Janice to offer cheap rhetoric during the election campaign and try to save her campaign by politicizing the abortion issue,” said David Ripley, the group’s chief executive. “But the fact is, it’s hard to imagine criminalizing behavior in these situations.”
He said his group advocates a culture of love and compassion so that women or girls who become pregnant through rape or incest eventually choose to have a child.
“I don’t think we can achieve this compassion through criminal law,” he said.
A survey by the Associated Press’s NORC Center for Public Affairs in June found that 61% of Americans say abortion should be legal in most or all circumstances during the first trimester of pregnancy. However, 65% say abortion should usually be illegal in the second trimester, and 80% say it should be illegal in the third trimester.
The majority of Americans, both Republicans and Democrats, believe that a pregnant woman should be able to have a legal abortion if her life is seriously endangered, if the pregnancy is the result of rape or incest, or if the child is born with a life-threatening illness.
McGeachin is in a tough race against Little’s first term and appears to be targeting far-right Republicans in deeply conservative Idaho for the May 17 primary. Republican primers are only open to Republicans and attract far fewer voters than the general election. Early personal and postal voting is now taking place for the primary elections.
The Idaho legislature postponed part-time work for the year in March. The only way to return to the session is if Little convenes a special session.
Little’s office did not immediately respond to a telephone message asking for comment on McGitchin’s request for a special legislative session.
Earlier this year, during the regular session, lawmakers approved and Little signed another abortion ban, modeled on a Texas law that will be enforced through lawsuits to avoid challenges to the constitutional court.
The latest law was withheld while the Idaho Supreme Court heard a case from a regional planned parenting group that allegedly violated the Idaho Constitution regarding the separation of powers.
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