In a more recent strategic move by pro-choice activist groups throughout the state, Planned Parenthood Columbia Willamette, based in Portland, will be renting a medical office in Ontario, Oregon, to prepare for an influx of patients from Idaho seeking access to reproductive healthcare.
The announcement came after the Idaho Legislature passed the Fetal Heartbeat Preborn Protection Act in March, which legally allows people to sue any individual who performs an abortion on their relatives.
Idaho Gov. Brad Little signed the bill into law, but wrote in a letter to Lt. Gov. Janice McGeachin, “While I support the pro-life policy in this legislation, I fear the novel civil enforcement mechanism will in short order be proven both unconstitutional and unwise.”
Planned Parenthood Great Northwest, Hawai’i, Alaska, Indiana, Kentucky filed suit, stating in a news release: “The abortion ban blatantly undermines patients’ right to privacy. It also improperly and illegally delegates law enforcement to private citizens, violating the separation of powers and allowing plaintiffs without injury to sue, in violation of the Idaho Constitution.”
The Idaho Supreme Court has temporarily blocked the law from going into effect.
“We believe that all people should have access to high-quality, affordable health care, no matter how much money they make or where they live,” said Kenji Nozaki, chief of affiliate operations for the Portland-based Planned Parenthood, in an interview with The Malheur Enterprise. “[Planned Parenthood] is currently exploring expanding our health care services in Oregon to ensure everyone can get the health care they need, when they need it.”
According to The Enterprise, the space had previously been a Four Rivers Health Care clinic. Planned Parenthood Columbia Willamette has yet to confirm its plans for the building.
By Peggy Perdue
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