(Oregon Right to Life) — Right to Life of Idaho President Emily Naugle responded after a radical pro-abortion ballot initiative officially qualified for the state’s General Election ballot in November. If approved by voters, the measure will legalize nearly all abortions in Idaho, a state that currently has some of the strongest pro-life legislation in the country.
On Monday, the group behind the pro-abortion ballot initiative announced that Proposition 1, the “Reproductive Freedom and Privacy Act,” which would legalize abortion in Idaho, had qualified to land on Idahoans’ ballots this fall. Volunteers working to advance the initiative had obtained and submitted more than 100,000 signatures – in excess of the 70,000 required.
The framing of the initiative – as evidenced by its name – is meant to appeal to Idahoans’ interest in protecting core values like privacy and freedom. In practice, however, it would prohibit any legislation protecting the unborn prior to viability. The proposition also leaves the door open for legal abortions past viability; fails to require the involvement of parents in the case of minors seeking abortions, eroding the state’s laws concerning parental rights and abortion trafficking; and broadly defines “reproductive health care” as “health care and other medical services related to the reproductive processes, functions, and systems,” thereby including controversial gender-related procedures.
Emily Naugle, president of Right to Life of Idaho, said her organization is “hopeful that Idahoans will look under the surface of Prop 1 and see the ugly reality that must be rejected.”
“Prop 1 is barbaric late-term abortion, a decimation of parental rights, and an open door for transgender ideologies to be foisted upon taxpayers,” Naugle told Oregon Right to Life on Monday.
“If we can reach voters with the truth,” she said, “we anticipate a sound defeat” of the initiative.
RELATED: Boise March for Life Draws Thousands in Idaho to Advocate for the Unborn
Ballot measures have been an effective – but not guaranteed – tactic by pro-abortion activists to upend pro-life legislation passed in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade in 2022.
So far, ballot initiatives have succeeded in enshrining abortion into the constitutions of seven states (Arizona, Colorado, Maryland, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, and New York), but have failed to do so in three (Florida, Nebraska, and South Dakota).
If the Idaho abortion ballot initiative goes before voters in November, it will need a simple majority (50% plus one) to pass.
Even if the measure fails, however, further efforts will be necessary to protect Idaho’s unborn, since the pro-life state’s proximity to radically pro-abortion Oregon has already led to an ongoing circumvention of existing Idaho law.
Shortly after the overturning of Roe, Planned Parenthood strategically opened a new abortion facility in Oregon’s Malheur County, a short drive across the Oregon-Idaho border. According to Oregon Health Authority (OHA), 427 abortions were performed in Malheur County in 2023, 381 of which were for out-of-state residents. In 2024, that number jumped to 876, of which 779 were for out-of-state residents. There had been no reported abortions in Malheur County prior to 2023. Data from 2025 has not yet been published.
Right to Life of Idaho, a statewide pro-life organization, is committed to educating the public about abortion and protecting unborn lives. It is active in opposing the abortion ballot measure. Learn more about Right to Life of Idaho here.
