Last year Gov. Little signed the Idaho Heartbeat Bill, which bans abortions after a preborn baby’s heartbeat can be detected. But because of ongoing court cases, the legislature felt it was necessary to include a trigger mechanism so that our new Heartbeat Law would not become enforceable until a similar law in another state was upheld by a federal appellate court.

Then something spectacular happened. Just a few months after our bill was signed by the governor, the United States Supreme Court allowed the Texas Heartbeat Law to go into effect.

This was a tremendous victory. Although it did not “trigger” enforcement of the Heartbeat Law here in Idaho because of technical reasons, it blazed a viable pathway we could follow to begin saving preborn babies right away in Idaho.

So we began working to make it happen. Sen. Patti Anne Lodge (R-Huston) and and Rep. Steve Harris (R-Meridian) enthusiastically agreed to sponsor the new changes adding a private enforcement mechanism that would become effective thirty days following signature by the governor.

Today I presented this new bill to the Senate State Affairs Committee. And I’m excited to share with you that the committee voted to “print,” or introduce, the bill (now SB 1309).

We need your prayers as we shepherd this legislation through the rest of the legislative process. If Texas is any indication, this simple addition to the Idaho Heartbeat Law will likely save more than 1,000 preborn babies every year. Lord willing, we could be just sixty days away from preventing most abortions in the state after six weeks of pregnancy.

We’re especially grateful for the pro-life leadership shown by Sen. Patti Anne Lodge and Rep. Steve Harris, and we are prayerfully optimistic that this legislation can make it across the finish line so it can begin saving precious lives.

As always, we will keep you updated.