IDAHO FALLS, Idaho (KIFI) – Debate in Idaho is ramping up around the “Reproductive Freedom and Privacy Act,” which opponents characterize as an “abortion” initiative.
The ballot title for the initiative states it’s a “measure creating right to abortion before fetus viability, and post-viability to protect health; right to privacy; [and] healthcare provider liability protections.”
Idaho Chooses Life Executive Director and Founder David Ripley told Bonneville County Republicans that Idaho’s existing Defense of Live Act has saved the life of 6,800 babies in Idaho since it passed four years ago. He spoke this evening at the Veterans Memorial Hall in Idaho Falls on 485 Constitution Way.
“Idaho right now has the best law in the country in terms of protecting our values, protecting our children and our families,” Ripley said.
On the other side, Idahoans United for Women and Families Executive Director Melanie Folwell, spearheaded the successful signature drive that gathered 110,000 signatures to place the initiative on the ballot, setting a record for the number of signatures gathered.
“Our initiative is seeking to make sure that we can return to the standard we had in Idaho for 50 years,” Folwell said.
Folwell said the measure qualified in 20 out of 35 Legislative districts, surpassing Idaho’s requirement to obtain signatures from six percent of voters from the last election in 18 districts.
“Prop One ensures that private medical decisions are made between a woman, her doctor, her family, her faith rather than the government,” she said. “I’ve never seen a single issue related to somebody’s own family that benefited from having a politician involved.”
But Ripley called the proposed measure a return to “Roe v. Wade” in Idaho.
“This proposition would do away with all those protections that are in place today,” he said. “In fact, the protections that the Legislature has enacted over the last 30 years – including parental consent laws, the ban on late-term abortions, the waiting period for women, their right to an ultrasound – all of that would be wiped out if this proposition passes.”
The Proposition One measure will be on the ballot this November.
