A measure that would legalise abortion until fetal viability has garnered enough signatures to qualify for the ballot at the upcoming election, the Secretary of State certified on July 13.
Idaho voters will consider the Idaho Reproductive Freedom and Privacy Act Initiative on November 3. If the measure receives 51 per cent of the vote, it will become law.
If passed, the measure would create a statutory right to “reproductive freedom”. Aside from legalising abortion until fetal viability, “reproductive freedom” is defined in the measure as “a right to make reproductive decisions, including contraception, fertility treatment, and prenatal and postpartum care”.
The measure would also permit abortion after fetal viability in cases of “medical emergencies”. These are defined as situations in which continuing a pregnancy would “cause serious impairment to a bodily function of the pregnant patient; or cause serious dysfunction of any bodily organ or part of the pregnant patient’s body”.
A pro-life advocate in Idaho said his organisation was prepared to oppose the ballot measure.
“Idaho Chooses Life has been preparing for many months to meet the proponents of this radical proposal in the public square,” David Ripley, director of Idaho Chooses Life, said in a statement provided to the Catholic Herald. “We welcome the opportunity to expose the dangers of this ballot measure.”
Ripley said the initiative would “strip parents of the right to manage the healthcare of their daughters – while simultaneously shielding strangers who help girls get abortions without parental knowledge”, as well as “harm women by stripping them of the safety protections in current law”.
Idaho has some of the strongest pro-life laws in the United States.
Abortion in Idaho is currently prohibited except in limited circumstances to save the life of the mother or in cases of rape or incest. These laws were enacted following the US Supreme Court's 2022 decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, which returned authority over abortion law to individual states.
In 2023, Idaho lawmakers also passed a law making it a criminal offence to help a minor obtain an abortion without the permission of her parents.
