Idaho’s Constitutional Defense Council voted unanimously today to pay $151,209.88 to Planned Parenthood for attorney fees and costs in Planned Parenthood v. Wasden, the federal lawsuit in which the group successfully challenged two 2015 anti-abortion laws that sought to ban the prescription of abortion-causing drugs via telemedicine. House Speaker Scott Bedke, R-Oakley, said, “Governor, I move that we pay the aforementioned bill.” Attorney General Lawrence Wasden seconded the motion, and said, “This is a negotiated amount of attorney’s fees in litigation in this case. We owe this money.”

Gov. Butch Otter, who chairs the council, called for the vote, and Senate President Pro-Tem Brent Hill, R-Rexburg, joined in to make it unanimous. “The ayes have it, and we’ll go pay the bill,” Otter said.

Today, the House voted 52-18 to repeal the two laws in question, under a legal settlement; if the Legislature doesn't repeal the two laws, a federal judge will declare them unconstitutional in a precedent-setting decision.

The four-member council oversees Idaho’s Constitutional Defense Fund, which lawmakers originally set up to fund legal efforts to defend the state’s sovereignty, but has largely been used to pay the other side’s costs and fees when the state’s lost in court.