Watch the Livestream: Trial in the Center’s Idaho “Medical Exceptions” Case Starts November 12

An Idaho state court will hear testimony and arguments starting November 12 in Adkins v. State of Idaho—the Center for Reproductive Rights’ case challenging the medical exceptions to the state’s abortion ban. The trial is expected to last several days.

>> Watch the livestream from the court room starting November 12 at 9 a.m. MT (11 a.m. ET).  

The Center brought the case on behalf of seven plaintiffs: four Idaho women who were denied medically necessary abortion care; two Idaho physicians who provide obstetrical care; and a professional membership organization consisting of Idaho physicians, medical residents and medical students.

Center clients and others will present testimony about their experiences being denied or delayed abortion care despite facing risks to their health, lives and future fertility. Read the plaintiffs’ stories here.

• Date: Trial starts Tuesday, November 12 and is expected to continue for several days
• Time: 9 a.m. MT (11 a.m. ET)
• Location: Ada County District Court, 200 W Front Street, Boise, Idaho
• Watch the court’s livestream.

These Center clients will testify in the case:

• Jennifer Adkins, who faced life-threatening conditions if she continued her pregnancy.  
• Jillaine St.Michel, who was forced to travel out of state to receive abortion care for a nonviable pregnancy.  
• Kayla Smith, who struggled to come up with the resources to leave the state for care needed to protect her health.  
• Rebecca Vincen-Brown, who was denied care despite learning that the fetus had multiple fatal conditions and was unlikely to survive. 
• Dr. Emily Corrigan, a Boise-based OB-GYN.  
• Representatives from the Idaho Academy of Family Physicians (IAFP), a medical association with over 600 physicians, medical residents, and student members who practice family medicine throughout the state of Idaho. 
• Dr. Julie Lyons, a family physician serving rural Idaho communities. (Dr. Lyons is expected to testify during the week of November 18.)

The Center filed Adkins v. State of Idaho in September 2023 to challenge the limited scope of the medical exceptions to Idaho’s two abortion bans. Clarifying the laws’ medical exceptions would allow physicians to provide life-saving care without waiting for patients to be near death. 

The lawsuit also seeks to expand the exceptions under the two bans to ensure doctors can provide abortion care to preserve a pregnant person’s health, including when the pregnant person has received a fatal fetal diagnosis.