By Zach Hagadone
Reader Staff
Idahoans United for Women and Families announced Nov. 20 that the campaign has collected more than 50,000 signatures toward qualifying the Reproductive Freedom and Privacy Act for the 2026 ballot.
“This milestone reflects strong statewide momentum and positions the citizen-led initiative firmly on track to meet Idaho’s robust legal requirements for ballot qualification,” organizers stated in a news release.
According to Idahoans United, the proposed legislation “seeks to restore the reproductive rights Idahoans held for nearly five decades prior to the state’s abortion ban (or ‘trigger ban’), which went into effect three years ago.”
Meanwhile, the organization stated, volunteers have fanned out across the state for the past four months to gather signatures as well as stories from people affected by the ban.
“Crossing the 50,000 signature threshold is both a celebration and a clear signal that Idahoans want their voices heard,” wrote Melanie Folwell, executive director for Idahoans United. “Every signature is a reminder that these decisions belong with patients and their doctors, not with politicians. This milestone shows we are strongly on track to meet the rigorous requirements for getting on the ballot.”
A July 2025 study published by JAMA Network Open — which is associated with the peer-reviewed Journal of American Medical Association — found that 35% of Idaho’s obstetrics practitioners left the state following the abortion ban.
Bonner General Health closed its obstetrics department in 2023, refusing to provide pregnancy, labor and delivery care, as well as pediatrics, as qualified OB-GYN and other reproductive health care providers fled the state amid the increasingly threatening political and legal climate.
Rep. Mark Sauter, R-Sandpoint, and Sen. Jim Woodward, R-Sagle, co-sponsored exemptions in the 2025 session that would allow abortions “to prevent a serious health risk to the mother” and in cases where the fetus “was diagnosed with a lethal fetal anomaly,” though the legislation did not receive a hearing before adjournment.
“Since the ban, doctors are leaving, delivery rooms are closing and everyone is finding it harder to access basic medical care,” Idahoans United stated on its website, backtoidaho.com. “Worst of all, women are forced to get sicker, suffer and risk their lives while they wait for lifesaving care. And even though they know this ban is breaking us, our Legislature won’t act to fix what they’ve broken.”
Meanwhile, the Reproductive Freedom and Privacy Act proposes to amend Idaho Code to add a new chapter stating that reproductive health care “such as the use of contraception, fertility treatments, childbirth care, miscarriage care, the decision to continue one’s own pregnancy and abortion … are deeply private matters that should be decided by a person in consultation with their health care provider.”
The proposed Act would establish “a right to make private reproductive health care decisions, including abortion up to fetal viability and in medical emergencies.”
Specifically related to abortion, the legislation holds that “it shall not be a violation of the right to reproductive freedom and privacy for the state to regulate abortion, except in cases of medical emergency.”
Getting the Reproductive Freedom and Privacy Act on the ballot faces significant hurdles. Legislators have established stricter guidelines for citizen initiatives in recent years, including the requirement that signatures must be collected from at least 6% of registered voters statewide and from 6% of voters in 18 of the 35 legislative districts in Idaho.
That means Idahoans United needs 70,725 verified signatures to qualify, but the organization stated that it is aiming to gather 100,000 signatures “to demonstrate broad, statewide support” for the measure.
In addition to the increased threshold for the number of signatures required for qualification on the ballot, Idaho law also stipulates that signatures must be collected in person, with hundreds of volunteers gathering in more than 35 locations statewide on Saturday, Nov. 29 for in-person signing events — including in Sandpoint from noon-4 p.m. at Eichardt’s Pub (212 Cedar St.).
For more information, and to read the full text of the proposed Act, go to backtoidaho.com.
