Idaho Gov. Brad Little told Newsmax Wednesday that the "vast difference" between the way Idaho is governed and the way Washington state is governed is on display with Washington Democrat Gov. Jay Inslee's opposition to Idaho's new abortion-trafficking law.
"This bill just simply prevents a minor girl from Idaho from being taken across the state line without the knowledge and consent of their parent or guardian, and that's all it does," Little said during an appearance on Newsmax's "National Report." "It doesn't do anything about any other kind of travel."
"We have had such a flood of people from the state of Washington coming into Idaho," he continued. "They had their businesses shut down, they had their parks shut down, they had their school shut down. People came and saw the liberties and the freedoms we had in Idaho — lower taxes, none of the public encampments, which we very successfully litigated against.
"I just found it ironic that I would be getting lectured by one of my neighboring state governors, given how fast the state of Idaho is growing, because liberty-loving people are fleeing to Idaho."
Little signed Idaho's new abortion-related travel law April 5, over the objections of Inslee, who wrote to Little to express his concerns and urge a veto of the legislation.
Responding to Inslee's recent comments that his state "will not stand" for Idaho's attempt to "criminalize what is going on in the state of Washington," Little said he sent his fellow governor "a copy of the 10th amendment of the Constitution."
"We don't criminalize," Little said. "All we say is minor girls from Idaho, if they go across the state line to get an abortion, have to have the knowledge and consent of their parent or guardian, that's it, that's all we did. We have read the U.S. Constitution, and we know what powers states have, and that's well within our view of the Dobbs decision, and the authority of the state of Idaho to protect life."
"We don't want to punish people, we just want to send a message that if young girls are going to go across the state line, their parents need to be made aware of it," Little said. "I know that my blue-state governors are all trying to become havens for abortion services.
"We're saying, 'You can go over there, particularly if you're an adult. We just don't want to have abortion on demand like those states have, and we think it's a disservice to our citizens to be hyped up by these blue-state governors."
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