Idaho’s Supreme Court has signed off on a law outlawing nearly all forms of abortion.  Justices in the U.S. state rejected lawsuits filed by abortion care providers who sought to stop Idaho’s so-called trigger law from taking effect later this month.

Boise, August 16 (RHC)-- Idaho’s Supreme Court has signed off on a law outlawing nearly all forms of abortion.  Justices in the U.S. state rejected lawsuits filed by abortion care providers who sought to stop Idaho’s so-called trigger law from taking effect later this month. 

The new law criminalizes abortions just six weeks into a pregnancy and makes it a felony to perform an abortion — with limited exceptions for cases of rape, incest or medical emergency. Idaho’s abortion ban still faces a legal challenge from the Department of Justice in a federal court. 

In other news, Kansas’s secretary of state has signed off on a hand recount of ballots cast on August 2, when voters overwhelmingly rejected a referendum that would have removed reproductive rights from the Kansas Constitution.  

The recount was requested by a private citizen who has spread baseless conspiracy theories about the 2020 election; it will be paid for by anti-abortion activists.  The recount is unlikely to change the outcome of the election, which saw Kansans affirm abortion rights by a 165,000-vote margin.