Idaho’s anti-abortion legislature and governor created a new crime this year: “abortion trafficking,” a fallacious and deliberate attempt to spread misinformation on abortion. Laws like this will likely begin to appear in another anti-abortion states and state legislatures.
Equating abortion-seeking to ‘trafficking’ undermines the brutal and inhumane realities that youth trafficking survivors endure. Ultimately, for vulnerable children, so-called anti-‘abortion trafficking’ laws codify the human rights and bodily autonomy abuses that true anti-trafficking laws aim to reduce. Adolescent health professionals and advocates must remain vigilant and continue to mobilize a multi-strategy response to ensure adolescents’ reproductive rights amid current assaults.