Update: Idaho may get to choose whether to protect abortion. 4 options floated for initiative
Idaho residents could vote to restore access to abortion and protect reproductive health care after a nonprofit took the first step Thursday toward a 2026 citizen ballot initiative.
Idahoans United for Women and Families filed four petitions with the Secretary of State’s Office for review, each of which would create an initiative with varying degrees of protection for abortion rights based on feedback from doctors and other Idaho residents.
Idaho has had one of the strictest abortion bans in the nation since 2022, when the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade and returned abortion decisions to the states. The procedure is legal only in cases of ectopic or molar pregnancy, reported cases of rape or incest or when a pregnant patient’s life is at risk.
“For two years, the Idaho Legislature had full power and ability to fix this problem, and they have failed to act,” Dr. Loren Colson, a family medicine physician in Boise and president of the Idaho Coalition for Safe Healthcare, said in a news release. “As health care professionals, we are committed to making decisions based on the best interests and health of our patients. These proposals will allow us to do just that, free from unnecessary and dangerous government overreach.”
State lawmakers have considered amending the law to address maternal health, but none of the efforts have gained traction in the Legislature. The narrow exception for abortions “to prevent the death” of a pregnant woman has been the subject of a federal lawsuit against Idaho that ascended to the U.S. Supreme Court earlier this year.
Melanie Folwell, spokesperson for the group, told the Idaho Statesman that inaction is part of what spurred Idahoans United to start its ballot initiative.
“We believe that politicians got us here, (and) politicians are not going to get us out,” Folwell said. “So this is a citizen-led effort for citizens, by citizens in Idaho, seeking a solution for everyday lives.”
What’s next for abortion ballot initiative?
Folwell said the group spent the last year drafting the petitions it submitted to the secretary of state. Three of them are similar and would create a “Reproductive Freedom and Privacy Act” in Idaho law. The initiative would protect wide-sweeping reproductive rights that include pregnancy, contraception, infertility treatments, abortion and miscarriage care.
The three petitions propose different limits on gestational cutoffs for abortion care: 20 weeks, 24 weeks or before “fetal viability.”
The fourth petition would cover only a “right to abortion under certain circumstances.” It expands exceptions to the state’s abortion ban to remove the law enforcement reporting requirement for rape and incest survivors and include cases of fetal anomalies and preserving a pregnant person’s health.
Attorney General Raúl Labrador’s office has 20 business days to recommend revisions or alterations, which the group can incorporate or reject, and create titles that will be used for signature collection and appear on the ballot if enough signatures are collected.
Folwell said organizers are “preparing ourselves for litigation” if they feel Labrador’s titles are unfair or skewed. Last year, Idahoans for Open Primaries sued Labrador’s office over the titles he created for ranked choice voting petitions. The Idaho Supreme Court ordered Labrador to rewrite the titles, which will appear on the ballot in November.
Labrador has been outspoken about his anti-abortion stance as his office has defended Idaho’s abortion restrictions.
“I look forward to working with the proponents to craft true and impartial ballot titles for these proposed initiatives, as required by Idaho law,” Labrador told the Statesman in an emailed statement.
When Idahoans United has a final approved petition, organizers will have 18 months to collect voter signatures to get the initiative on the ballot. A petition must have signatures from at least 6% of registered voters in 18 of the state’s 35 legislative districts.
If enough signatures are gathered, the initiative will appear on voters’ ballots in the November 2026 general election. An initiative needs a simple majority – 51% or more of the vote – to pass.
Widespread enthusiasm for initiative, nonprofit says
Though it will likely be months before Idahoans United begins collecting voter signatures, organizers said there’s already a wave of enthusiasm from Idaho residents.
“We’ve got a list of a few thousand people who are interested in standing at the ready to volunteer,” Folwell said.
She said the group has also seen an outpouring of “incredibly heart wrenching” stories from women and doctors who are affected by the abortion ban. Their experiences vary, Folwell said, and they reflect the group’s desire to move away from the message that abortion stances only provide binary options, either pro-life or pro-choice.
“It doesn’t reflect where normal Idahoans are at on this, and it doesn’t reflect the fact that there’s all kinds of us in this coalition,” she said.
Idahoans United has tapped board members from around the state with backgrounds ranging from health care providers to concerned parents and religious leaders.
Mike Conner, a pastor at Pocatello First United Methodist Church, told the Statesman he was driven to join the group after hearing from church members and experiencing firsthand during his wife’s pregnancy the anxiety created by Idaho’s laws.
He said he wanted to show Idaho residents that there are “people of faith who care about what they’re going through.”
“I think all the time about the scripture that says, ‘There is no fear in love,’” Conner said. “And I think that the fruit of these more recent restrictive policies has been a lot of fear, and I think it’s unnecessary.”
Cynthia Dalsing, a retired nurse midwife from Sandpoint, also serves on the board. Dalsing said she’s seen OBGYN services in North Idaho dwindle in recent years, including the closure of the labor and delivery department at Bonner General Health in 2023.
“Every health care decision with a woman is individual and so complex with respect to that woman and who her family is, or her support or her income or insurance status,” Dalsing told the Statesman. “I think losing (health care options) in our state, and certainly in our town, has just kind of left a hole about where women are going for their health care.”
Idahoans disagree with abortion ban, polls say
Folwell said Idahoans United has discussed the possibility of a ballot initiative since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned federal protections for abortion, triggering Idaho’s ban on the procedure.
“Our sense was that this trigger ban is completely out of alignment with where most Idahoans are,” Folwell said.
Polling confirmed that suspicion. Idahoans United commissioned polls in 2022 that showed many residents disagreed with the strict ban. About 60% of people said they believe abortion should be legal in some or all instances. A Statesman poll returned similar results.
Idahoans United said 63% of poll respondents said they think abortion is a private decision, and nearly 70% said they strongly or somewhat agree with the statement that people should not impose their beliefs about abortion on others.
Polling showed 12% of residents are against abortion in all instances, and 28% said it should be legal in “just a few cases.”
“Our conversations have told us over and over that a strong majority of Idahoans believe that very personal medical decisions like an abortion should be made between a patient, her doctor, her family, and not the attorney general, the Legislature, lawyers and politicians,” Folwell said. “People are very clear on that.”
Idaho doctors cite impacts of abortion law
Doctors have said political involvement in the exam room, as well as the threat of prison time and losing their license, has made it difficult to give patients the care they need. St. Luke’s Health System, the largest hospital system in the state, told the Statesman earlier this year that it was sending patients out of state for abortion care when doctors were unsure whether an at-risk patient’s abortion would be considered legal.
The state has lost nearly one-quarter of its OBGYNs since 2022. Many of them have cited the strict abortion laws as the reason they left.
The laws have faced several legal challenges, including from the U.S. Department of Justice in a case that was heard at the U.S. Supreme Court. The agency alleged Idaho violated a federal law requiring hospitals that receive Medicaid funding to stabilize patients in medical emergencies.
The Supreme Court in June remanded the case back to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals.
Several women sued Idaho after they were forced to leave the state for abortions when doctors determined their pregnancies were not viable. A trial is scheduled to begin in November.