Health care provider sues over Idaho's strict abortion ban

A regional Planned Parenthood organization is suing Idaho over a new law that bans nearly all abortions by allowing potential family members of the embryo to sue abortion providers

BOISE, Idaho -- A regional Planned Parenthood organization is suing Idaho over a new law that bans nearly all abortions by allowing potential family members of the embryo to sue abortion providers.

The law, which is based on a similar one that Texas enacted last year, was signed by Idaho Gov. Brad Little last week. At the time, the governor said he supported the anti-abortion policy but was worried the enforcement mechanism of the law would soon be “proven both unconstitutional and unwise.”

Planned Parenthood Great Northwest, Hawaii, Alaska, Indiana, Kentucky, which operates 40 health centers across six states, filed the lawsuit with the Idaho Supreme Court on Wednesday.

Dr. Caitlin Gustafson, a family medicine doctor who has practiced in Idaho for nearly two decades, joined Planned Parenthood in the lawsuit. She said the abortion ban is "unconscionable and unconstitutional.”