A new Idaho lawmaker has said he plans to sponsor a bill during the upcoming legislative session that would classify abortion as first-degree murder for mothers and doctors.
Sen. Dan Foreman's abortion bill would exempt mothers and doctors in cases where the mothers' lives are endangered, The Lewiston Tribune reported Wednesday.
"How can a woman tell her unborn child it has to die?" the Moscow Republican asked. "Who represents the child?"
Foreman's also plans to submit bills focusing on tax relief, including one that would reduce the state's 6 percent sales tax to 5 percent.
An anti-abortion ballot initiative drive is underway by the Abolish Abortion Idaho group but Foreman said he has no connection to that effort.
A number of U.S. states have sought to charge doctors with murder for performing abortions, but Foreman believes his would be the first to charge mothers.
"I'm tired of babies dying," he said. "It's time to start the fight, and I'll be the point man."
Foreman's tax relief bill to reduce the state sales tax would reduce Idaho's general fund revenues by $200 million, the Lewiston Tribune reported.
"I think the mood in the state is right for a sales tax cut," he said. "We're starting to grow government faster than the economy. If we really want to stimulate the economy, let's leave the spending choices up to the men and women on the street."
Another bill would allow parents who send their children to private schools to deduct up to $8,000 from their state income taxes.
Foreman defeated three-term Sen. Dan Schmidt in November.