One of the strictest abortion bans in the country will be on the ballot this November after Idaho’s secretary of state certified a ballot measure on Monday that would reverse the state’s abortion ban that prohibits the procedure at all stages of pregnancy.
The ballot initiative was headed by a volunteer-run group called Idahoans United for Women & Families, which ran a petition drive to get the measure in front of voters this fall. They gathered more than 100,000 signatures, surpassing the required 70,725 to get on the ballot.
If approved by voters, the measure would create a law for “reproductive freedom”, rather than serve as an amendment to the state constitution.
The change would make Idaho’s law similar to what it was before the supreme court ruled to overturn Roe v Wade in 2022, allowing states to ban abortion. Idaho’s new law would allow abortion until fetal viability, which is generally considered to be after about 21 weeks into a pregnancy. It would also allow people to make their own choices for abortion, contraception and fertility treatment.
Since Roe was overturned and several states banned or restricted abortion, advocates have been fighting to bring back protections through various state-level referendums. Nationwide, abortion rights advocates have lost four statewide votes on reproductive rights, but have prevailed in 14 referendums over the same period.
Idaho is currently one of six states where its abortion ban does not include exceptions for the health of the girl or woman. Like most other bans, it does allow abortion to save the life of the woman, or in pregnancies caused by rape or incest. Idaho was also the first state, in 2023, to make it a crime to help a minor obtain an abortion without the consent of parents.
The ban has been difficult for doctors who provide pregnancy-related healthcare in the state, according to the 19th. Many have said they’ve left the state because of the severe penalties that come with providing care under the law. In 2023, four women sued the state after having pregnancy complications and were unable to get an abortion.
David Ripley, the CEO of the anti-abortion group Idaho Chooses Life, is preparing to campaign against the measure. “This is going to have a profound impact on Idaho,” he told the Associated Press, “and will basically invalidate virtually every pro-life law that the legislature has enacted over the last 30 to 40 years.”
Idaho’s ballot measure comes as several other states are also looking to reposition their rules on abortion for the midterms. Virginia and Nevada, which both allow for abortion up to 24-weeks of a pregnancy, are considering amendments to their state constitutions that would create a right to abortion. Missouri, taking the opposite direction, is letting voters decide whether to reinstate a previous abortion ban that had been undone through a constitutional amendment in 2024.
Associated Press contributed reporting
