Hundreds ‘March for Life’ in Boise, rally for the future of Idaho’s abortion ban
Published at | Updated at
Shannon Tyler, Idaho Statesman
BOISE (Idaho Statesman) — Hundreds of people marched through downtown Boise on Saturday and gathered at the state Capitol steps to rally for the March for Life and defend the state’s strict abortion ban.
The pro-life march was hosted by the Right to Life Idaho, a pro-life advocacy organization. This year, the organization said, the march’s theme was “support her, protect them.”
Throughout the rally, speakers made it clear that their top priority is advocating to hold onto Idaho’s strict abortion ban in the face of a possible reproductive rights initiative on this year’s ballot.
“Our goal this year is to defend Idaho’s pro-life laws, to defend the Defense of Life Act, to defend unborn babies and their mothers, because in Idaho, we love them both,” said Megan Wold, an anti-abortion lobbyist and speaker at the march.
RELATED | Idaho struggles to recruit doctors, provide adequate care due to abortion law, doctors say
When the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022, ending constitutional protections for abortions, it triggered Idaho’s Defense of Life Act, one of the country’s strictest bans. The ban includes an exception to “prevent the death of the pregnant woman.”
A citizen-led ballot initiative seeks to upend that law. If the Reproductive Freedom and Privacy Act Initiative gets enough petition signatures, it would ask voters on the November 2026 ballot to restore access to abortion and protect reproductive health care rights.
The proposed legislation would change the law protecting people’s right to “make personal decisions” regarding abortion, childbirth care, contraception, fertility care, miscarriage care and more. That would include legalizing abortion up to the point of fetal viability, which is typically around 24 weeks’ gestation.
The initiative has gained traction in the state. An annual Boise State University survey on public policy released this month showed that Idaho residents appear to be in favor of the ballot initiative. According to the survey, about 60% of survey respondents said they would support the ballot measure, either “strongly” or “somewhat.”
Another speaker at the event, Blaine Conzatti, president of the Idaho Family Policy Center, a conservative Christian lobbying group, praised Idaho’s abortion rate dropping significantly and the closure of three Planned Parenthood clinics in the state since the Defense of Life Act took effect.
But he told the crowd that “now is not the time to take a break” and said the ballot initiative is “too extreme for Idaho.”
“We have to keep fighting to build a truly abortion-free Idaho. We still have a long ways to go,” Conzatti said. “More likely than not, they are going to get this on the ballot, and we’ve got our work cut out for us.”