Today’s MAGA Hot Mic moment features Idaho, where women are struggling to access Plan B and other forms of birth control as a result of the state’s draconian abortion ban. 

Idaho’s extreme trigger law, which bans nearly all abortions without exceptions for a woman’s health and threatens health care providers with prison time for providing vital reproductive care, went into effect a little over a month ago. 

Washington Post: “Idaho’s ‘trigger’ law, which is set to take effect Thursday, bans abortions except in cases involving rape or when a woman’s life is in danger. There is no exception if a patient faces nonlethal health risks, such as a stroke or organ damage, by continuing the pregnancy.”

Washington Post: “Idaho’s trigger ban took effect on Aug. 25, approximately two months after the Supreme Court reversed Roe v. Wade. That law, which was passed by state lawmakers in 2020, bans abortions at any time after conception, except in instances where the pregnant person’s life is at risk or in cases of rape or incest so long as the crime was reported to law enforcement.”

NPR: “Physicians who perform abortions outside of these circumstances will be at risk of up to five years in prison. The Justice Department sued Idaho to block this law. During a court hearing on Monday, a federal judge said there seems to be an ‘absolute conflict’ between that law and federal law regulating emergency care.”

Thanks to the trigger ban, many health care providers are unable to offer basic health care services — like birth control — because they fear they could face a felony conviction and be permanently barred from all future state employment.

Washington Post: “The University of Idaho’s general counsel issued new guidance on Friday about the state’s near-total abortion ban, alerting faculty and staff that the school should no longer offer birth control for students, a rare move for a state university. University employees were also advised not to speak in support of abortion at work. If an employee appears to promote abortion, counsel in favor of abortion, or refer a student for an abortion procedure, they could face a felony conviction and be permanently barred from all future state employment, according to an email obtained by The Washington Post.”

Washington Post: “Because the language of the law is ‘unclear and untested,’ the message reads, ‘we are advising a conservative approach here, that the university not provide standard birth control itself.’ Condoms could be provided ‘for the purpose of helping prevent the spread of STDs,’ according to the guidance — but not ‘for purposes of birth control.’”

Let’s not forget this is the same abortion extremism Idaho Republicans have been calling for. At the Idaho GOP state party convention, lawmakers rejected an amendment to the party platform that would protect abortion access in cases where the mother’s life is at risk, and argued for the criminalization of all abortions: 

Idaho Capital Sun: “No exception for life of mother included in Idaho GOP’s abortion platform language”

Idaho Capital Sun: “While language already existed in the platform classifying abortion as murder from the moment of fertilization, [State Senate candidate Scott] Herndon’s language added that the party supports the criminalization of all abortions within the state’s jurisdiction.”

Republican lawmakers in Idaho, and across the country, are keeping their promise that overturning Roe was just the beginning; They’re coming after a woman’s fundamental right to privacy. This is what’s at stake come November.