BOISE, Idaho — Six university professors and two teachers’ unions are suing Idaho over a law that they say violates their First Amendment rights by criminalizing teaching and classroom discussion about pro-abortion viewpoints.
The 2021 No Public Funds for Abortion Act prohibits state contracts or transactions with abortion providers and also bans public employees from promoting abortion, counseling in favor of abortion or referring someone to abortion services. Public employees who violate the law can be charged with misuse of public funds, a felony, and be fired, fined and ordered to pay back the funds they are accused of misusing.
The law is “simultaneously sweeping and unclear” and places a “strait jacket upon the intellectual leaders” of Idaho’s public universities, the educators, represented by the American Civil Liberties Union of Idaho, wrote in the lawsuit.
The case was brought by five University of Idaho professors who teach philosophy, political science, American literature and journalism, as well as a Boise State University professor of social work. Other plaintiffs include the Idaho Federation of Teachers, which represents faculty at UI, BSU and Idaho State University, and the University of Idaho Faculty Federation.
The University of Idaho and Boise State University both warned staffers last year not to refer students to abortion providers or tell them how to get emergency contraception because of the law. The law also sparked questions about the potential...
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