Abortion rights advocates will begin collecting signatures Saturday to overturn Idaho’s near-total ban on the procedure, while also protecting access to birth control and IVF.
The campaign from Idahoans United for Women and Families would return Idaho to the rules upheld by Roe v Wade before it was overturned in 2022. That means lawmakers couldn’t ban the procedure before fetal viability or in emergency cases.
Idahoans United for Women and Families executive director Melanie Folwell said her group’s initiative would also protect the availability of Plan-B, which is a form of emergency contraception.
State lawmakers approved a near-total abortion ban five years ago that went into effect after the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v Jackson Women’s Health Organization.
It only allows abortions in cases of rape, incest or when the life of the mother is threatened.
“On somebody’s, one of the hardest days of their life, it is being made worse, more dangerous, more expensive, scarier, riskier by the government,” Folwell said.
Due to confusion over the threshold of what conditions might immediately threaten a patient’s life, doctors at St. Luke’s Health System has airlifted several pregnant women out of state to get abortions.
OB-GYNs have fled Idaho, at times taking spouses who are also medical providers with them, according to Folwell.
Since the overturning of Roe v Wade, voters have weighed in on 18 ballot initiatives or constitutional amendments across the country. Fourteen of those supported abortion rights, including issues in seven states that voted for President Donald Trump in 2024.
That, Folwell said, gives her confidence that Idaho will follow suit.
“I think the idea that a politician is ever going to know better than what is happening with your own family, your own health, your own body, your own life, your own future, your destiny, your kitchen table is ludicrous.”
She said her group has more than 1,000 volunteers across the state ready to collect the roughly 66,000 signatures needed to qualify for the ballot in November 2026. They will also need to collect a certain percentage of those from at least 18 of Idaho’s 35 legislative districts.
The kickoff rally begins at 10 a.m. Saturday at the Idaho Capitol.
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