Abortion laws are also threatened in Idaho.

The Northwest House of Representatives has now passed Senate Bill 1309, which would ban abortion after the sixth week after a fetal heartbeat is detected.

In addition, the "Fetal Heartbeat Act" provides for a right of action for family members.

Fathers, grandparents and siblings of a fetus should in future be able to take legal action against doctors who have performed an abortion.

According to the draft law, the doctors face a minimum fine of $20,000 if they are sued.

Idaho is the first state to follow Texas' example, which in September introduced the toughest abortion regulations in the United States to date.

Senate Bill 8 bans abortions after the sixth week, even for rape or incest.

After the deadline, a pregnancy may only be terminated in the event of a medical emergency.

Since the ban, clinics in states neighboring Texas like Louisiana, New Mexico and Oklahoma have seen a more than 800 percent increase in abandonments.

From the "Trimester Regulation" to the "Heartbeat Act"

The United States Supreme Court ruled abortion rights in 1973 in Roe v.

Wade committed.

The court bound state law at the time to the "trimester rule."

It stipulated that governments could not prohibit abortion in the first trimester, around the end of the twelfth week.

During the second trimester, Roe v.

Wade the states regulations to protect the health of the mother.

However, for the third trimester and after the fetus was viable, the Supreme Court provided for restrictions on abortion rights by individual legislatures.

To this day, Roe v.

Wade on the Supreme Court's most controversial decisions.

Donald Trump's nomination of conservative lawyers Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court further fueled the abortion debate.

The fact that the tightening of abortion laws in Texas specifically gave individuals the power to sue anyone who "encourages" abortion makes judicial review more difficult.

"The law has destroyed access to abortion in Texas through an intricate private bounty hunter scheme that defies nearly 50 years of jurisdiction by this court," Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote in late January.

At the time, the Supreme Court refused

If Idaho's Republican governor Brad Little also signs the bill banning abortion after the sixth week of pregnancy, the state can expect a legal battle based on the Texas model.

Opponents of Senate Bill 1309 are already pointing to hurdles for women who become pregnant after being raped.

According to the Fetal Heartbeat Act, before having an abortion, you have to go to the police – to file a criminal complaint against the rapist.