Judge's ruling expanding abortion access in Idaho now applies to just one doctor

Nicole Blanchard, Idaho Statesman on Aug 27, 2026

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BOISE, Idaho — A federal judge’s recent ruling that expanded access to abortion in Idaho will now apply to just one doctor — the maternal-fetal medicine specialist who filed the lawsuit — after the Idaho Attorney General’s Office appealed the decision and filed an emergency motion to limit its scope.

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

Winmill ruled largely in Seyb’s favor, preventing Idaho from enforcing its abortion bans when remaining pregnant threatens a woman’s physical health or when a pregnant person’s life is at risk from self-harm. He allowed Idaho’s law to stand in cases of fatal fetal anomalies, or conditions where a baby is expected to die soon after birth.

Idaho Attorney General Raúl Labrador appealed the decision to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals just days later. At the same time, the Attorney General’s Office filed an emergency motion with the U.S. District Court for the District of Idaho to pause Winmill’s ruling until the appeals court hears the case. Arguments aren’t planned to go before that court until November at the earliest.

As part of the Attorney General’s Office’s motion, attorneys argued Winmill erred when he issued a universal injunction — a ruling that applies to all doctors that could potentially perform abortions in Idaho, not just Seyb.

In a Tuesday ruling, Winmill denied the attorney general’s request to pause the ruling in its entirety. However, Winmill agreed to narrow his ruling to apply only to Seyb. The judge reasoned that the compromise would be enough to allow Seyb to practice without fear of possible prosecution without extending the original injunction to doctors who weren’t part of the lawsuit.

“While we are disappointed in the ruling, it is only one step in the litigation,” said Tanya Pellegrini, co-director of litigation at the Lawyering Project, which represented Seyb. “We will continue to stand with providers and their patients to ensure it is safe to be pregnant in Idaho.”

The Attorney General’s Office declined to comment on the new ruling, pointing instead to a previous statement on Winmill’s decision in which Labrador said the judge “replaced Idaho’s law with his own abortion standard.” The attorney general’s prior statement also reiterated criticism of Seyb, who Labrador’s office has repeatedly said fundamentally misunderstood state abortion laws.