Idaho voters to decide whether to keep or overturn state abortion ban
Voters in Idaho will decide in November whether to overturn a state law that bans abortion in nearly all circumstances.
The initiative, known as the Reproductive Freedom & Privacy Act, officially qualified for the November ballot Monday after organizers submitted more than 110,000 signatures — well above the 70,725 signatures required under Idaho law, and the most ever collected for a qualified ballot initiative in state history, according to Idahoans United for Women and Families, the group behind the measure.
Melanie Folwell, executive director of Idahoans United for Women and Families, which backs the initiative, said in a statement that she was “immensely proud of the foundation we have built, and to continue that outreach into the fall.”
“We have known from early on this issue was deeply personal and had the ability to break through divisive partisan frames we are navigating nationally right now and certainly, very accurately here in Idaho,” said Folwell, according to The Idaho Capital Sun. “When it comes to making the tough decisions in our lives and in our families, we call the shots and not the government. That is something that has resonated in every corner of the state.”
The Stanton Public Policy Center, a pro-life group, denounced the ballot measure in a statement provided to The Christian Post, saying that since Idaho's "Defense of Life Act" took effect in 2022, an estimated 6,000 lives have been saved from abortion.
“Idaho has demonstrated that we can protect both women and their children, and we should continue building a culture where every mother is surrounded with hope, practical resources, and life-affirming care,” said Stanton CEO Brandi Swindell.
“We cannot go backward to a system that treats abortion as the solution to women’s challenges. Fifty years of unfettered access to abortion did not solve the societal, familial, and personal challenges women face. Instead, abortion culture placed an undue burden on women and paved the way for abortion abuse.”
Idaho's Legislature passed the Defense of Life Act in 2020 as a trigger law, meaning it was designed to take effect automatically if the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. That happened in 2022, and the law went into effect that August, making Idaho one of several states to enact a near-total abortion ban following the Dobbs decision.
The state law was challenged by the Biden administration, with the U.S. Department of Justice alleging that it violated the federal Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act.
The law was later challenged by the Biden administration, whose Department of Justice argued it conflicted with the federal Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services under President Joe Biden had issued guidance stating that EMTALA required hospital emergency staff to perform abortions when necessary to stabilize a patient.
A three-judge panel of the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in favor of Idaho in September 2023, overturning a lower court decision in favor of the Biden HHS guidance.
The Supreme Court heard oral arguments in the case in April 2024, with U.S. Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar rejecting the claim that the case was about abortion bans in general.
"Even states that have sharply restricted access to abortion after Dobbs generally allow exceptions to safeguard the mother's health," Prelogar said. "But Idaho makes termination a felony punishable by years of imprisonment unless it is necessary to prevent the woman's death."
The Supreme Court issued a brief per curiam opinion in June 2024, concluding that the case had been “improvidently granted,” meaning that the high court should not have heard arguments.
In March 2025, shortly after President Donald Trump was sworn in to his second term, the federal government agreed to drop the case against Idaho, allowing the state law to remain in effect.
Idaho Attorney General Raúl Labrador released a statement last year celebrating the dismissal, saying, “there is no conflict between EMTALA and Idaho’s Defense of Life Act.”
“The goal of each is to save lives in every circumstance, both the mother and their unborn child,” stated Labrador at the time. “We are grateful that meddlesome DOJ litigation on this issue will no longer be an obstacle to Idaho enforcing its laws. Idaho will continue defending life as intended by the legislature and our people.”
