On Tuesday, Idaho voters rejected Proposition 1, the citizen-led ballot initiative that would’ve restored abortion rights in the state.
Idaho’s current law, passed after the repeal of Roe v Wade in 2022, bans abortions in most cases, with narrow exceptions for rape, incest and when the life of the mother is in danger. Or or The Reproductive Freedom and Privacy Act, or Prop 1, would have restored the right to abortion up to fetal viability and in case of medical emergencies.
The ballot measure needed a simple majority to pass: it lost by about 56% of votes.
“We're thrilled by the results tonight,” said Blaine Conzatti, from the Stop Prop 1 campaign,
“This is what we were expecting. We've been doing internal polling on this for months now, and this tracks with what we've been seeing.”
“We believe that this is a resounding victory that will keep the pro-choice activists from trying this again in our state,” he added.
“This is a tremendous, frankly gutting, loss,” wrote Melanie Folwell, head of Idahoans United for Women and Families, the organization behind Prop 1, in a statement Tuesday night.
“We will see more doctors leave the state as a result of this election. And, most urgently, women will continue to suffer needlessly under one of the most cruel abortion bans in the nation.”
