Radical abortion advocates are lying—again.
Have you seen this newest television advertisement from Idahoans United for Women and Families? It features a retired law enforcement officer claiming that our prolife laws make it impossible for women to get abortions in cases of rape or incest:
While he concedes that state law permits abortion in cases of rape with a police report during the first trimester, he goes on to allege that a woman might have to wait months to receive a copy of the report—causing her to miss the window during which she can obtain an abortion.
There’s only one problem: It’s a bald-faced lie.
Under Idaho law, a woman needs only a copy of her report filed with the police department to obtain an abortion in cases of rape—not the final police report compiled by the department after a full investigation.
This becomes evident with even a cursory reading of the law (I.C. § 18-622(3)):
If a report concerning an act of rape or incest is made to a law enforcement agency . . . then the person who made the report shall, upon request, be entitled to receive a copy of such report within seventy-two hours . . .
Did you catch that? A police department must have the police report available – and provide a copy to the woman for use in obtaining an abortion – no more than three days after the report is filed by the woman.
That’s a far cry from the “months” that the retired law enforcement officer claims in the campaign advertisement.
Reasonable people might disagree on whether rape and incest exceptions are good policy. And we should have that debate.
But the fact remains that current Idaho law contains practicable rape and incest exceptions—and voters deserve to know the truth.
Why the misinformation? Idahoans United for Women and Families can’t win this campaign on the clear language of Proposition 1.
After all, most voters don’t support abortion-on-demand through seven or even eight months of pregnancy—and they don’t want teenage girls receiving abortions without parental consent.
So as a last ditch effort to sway voters, Idahoans United for Women and Families are choosing to use rape victims as political pawns.
This probably sickens you as much as it sickens me. Every rape is a tragedy that causes unimaginable suffering and heartbreak. These girls and their babies deserve help, not to be used as means to achieve political ends.
Deceptive campaign tactics are wrong—especially when they exploit real victims and mislead voters. The record must be corrected.
