A judge expanded Idaho abortion access last week. Attorney General Labrador appealed

Nicole Blanchard, Idaho Statesman on Aug 20, 2026

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BOISE, Idaho — Less than a week after a federal judge ruled that Idaho cannot enforce state abortion bans in certain physical or mental health-related instances, the Idaho Attorney General’s Office appealed the case to a higher court.

Idaho District Court Judge B. Lynn Winmill issued his decision Aug. 13 in a case brought by Boise maternal-fetal medicine specialist Stacy Seyb. Seyb, who primarily sees high-risk patients, said Idaho’s strict abortion bans prevented him from providing his patients with adequate care.

Winmill sided with Seyb on two of three claims. His ruling prevents Idaho from enforcing its abortion bans when continued pregnancy threatens a woman’s physical health or could result in the death of a pregnant woman from self-harm. He sided with the state in allowing Idaho to continue to ban abortion in cases of fatal fetal anomalies — complications or conditions that will likely result in the death of a baby soon after birth.

In a statement following Winmill’s ruling, Idaho Attorney General Raúl Labrador indicated his office planned to appeal the decision “immediately.” Court records show the Attorney General’s Office filed a notice of appeal on Tuesday.

Labrador’s office also filed an emergency motion with the U.S. District Court for the District of Idaho to pause Winmill’s ruling from going into effect pending the appeal.

In a court document supporting the motion to stay Winmill’s ruling, the Attorney General’s Office said the federal judge “declared a novel constitutional right to abortion in two respects, then subjected Idaho’s laws to strict scrutiny to the extent they contravened the newly minted rights.”

In a statement shared by his office on Thursday, Labrador repeated claims made during trial alleging Seyb was ignorant of Idaho’s laws and said Winmill “replaced Idaho’s law with his own abortion standard.”

Labrador reiterated a critique of Winmill’s ruling that he made last week and pointed to Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization — the U.S. Supreme Court case that overturned national abortion rights established by Roe v. Wade — as the ultimate authority on the subject.

“Dobbs made clear that abortion policy belongs to the people and their elected state representatives, not the judiciary,” Labrador said in the statement. “We have appealed to the Ninth Circuit, and we will fight until this ruling is reversed and Idaho’s law is restored.”

Stephanie Toti, executive director of the Lawyering Project, which represented Seyb, criticized Labrador’s decision to appeal.

“The Attorney General’s utter disregard for the health and welfare of pregnant Idaho residents is appalling,” Toti said in a statement to the Idaho Statesman. “We look forward to continuing to litigate this case with the goal of making it safer for people to be pregnant in Idaho.”

A time schedule order from the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals shows Labrador’s opening appeals brief is due Nov. 10, and Seyb’s one month later.

Labrador’s office has appealed multiple district court rulings on various Idaho abortion laws to the Ninth Circuit with mixed results, most notably pursuing appeals over former President Joe Biden’s Department of Justice lawsuit regarding emergency abortion care to the U.S. Supreme Court.