Anti-abortion advocate expresses concerns over Idaho voter initiative
Published at
IDAHO FALLS — After an initiative that seeks to end Idaho’s laws regarding abortions qualified for November’s general election, an anti-abortion advocate spoke to the public about his concerns.
David Ripley, founder and executive director of Idaho Chooses Life, hosted a community briefing on the voter initiative.
The Reproductive Freedom and Privacy Act is led by Idahoans United for Women and Families. Advocates have gathered over 110,000 signatures and qualified on July 13.
This act would legalize abortion in Idaho, with the exception that once fetal viability occurs, the state will be allowed to regulate abortion. This last part also includes restrictions for medical emergencies that a “physician’s good faith medical judgment, based on the facts known at the time, and determined on a case-by-case basis.”
Currently, Idaho laws on abortion are almost a near total ban, with the exception of in some cases of incest, rape and when the abortion is “necessary to prevent death.”
During a presentation that took place on July 22, Ripley scrutinized many portions of the act’s language and argued that it would go far beyond what its language describes.
Who is Idaho Chooses Life?
Idaho Chooses Life is a social conservative political action committee formed in 1996 by Ripley that supports anti-abortion candidates and legislation, according to its website.
One of its significant impacts on Idaho was the passage of the Idaho Defense of Life Act, which led to a near-total ban on abortions.
Ripley claims that when Roe v. Wade was law in the state, 98,000 babies were lost due to abortion and that in the nearly 50 years that Roe was active, he said Idaho was killing 2,200 babies each year.
“You think about the number of children lost. We have no idea what we lost as a society, as a state, as a community,” he said.
Ripley believes that since DOLA was passed, about 6,800 babies have been saved each year.
Issues with the voter initiative
Looking at the voter initiative, Ripley said that after multiple lawsuits and pieces of legislation to bring back abortion, groups like Idahoans United for Women and Families are looking at elections to bring back abortion.
“We simply cannot allow that to happen,” Ripley said. “Contrary to what the enemy might tell you, this is not a private decision. This is not a personal matter. This is a community matter.”
If the law passes, Ripley said it will undo all anti-abortion laws Idaho has, meaning it would invalidate DOLA. Aside from protecting unborn babies, he said it also elevated the standard of care in the state.
RELATED | Idaho is losing OB-GYNs. Doctors who remain are trying to shoulder the extra burdens
Other concerns are that if the voter initiative does pass, it will eliminate parental consent laws, believing that it’ll open the floodgates for abortion trafficking.
“If Idaho knows what this thing would actually do, there’s no way this passes,” Ripley said. “The proponents of this legislation are not going to fess up to what it does.”
He said the initiative is written in a way that’s meant to deceive voters.
Lies, deception and false narratives?
During his discussion, Ripley attacked media coverage, the medical community, Democrats, women’s rights advocates and freedom zealots for their rhetoric after Roe was overturned.
“They couldn’t imagine a world in which you couldn’t kill babies anymore, and they held news conference after news conference predicting just about the end of the world if we didn’t start killing babies again,” Ripley said.
He said that now, in the Idaho Legislature, there aren’t members of Planned Parenthood lobbying, but medical professionals who he sees as the ones leading the charge to get abortion back into the state.
With the timing of the voter initiative, Ripley said that Idaho now has the facts and data to prove that DOLA is working, instead of listening to the fear mongering perpetrated by doctors.
He talked about the case of Seyb v. Members of the Idaho Board of Medicine, in which Idaho’s Attorney General argued that Dr. Stacey Seyb, a maternal-fetal medicine specialist at St. Luke’s Health System, admitted to not understanding how Idaho law works.
According to the Idaho Capital Sun, a motion to dismiss the case was denied. The trial involving this case began on June 8, where Seyb’s lawsuit seeks medical exemptions that would allow abortion to prevent permanent health declines, death by suicide and fatal fetal conditions.
RELATED | Judge denies state’s request to totally dismiss Idaho abortion lawsuit
Ripley said that since DOLA was enacted in 2022, not one doctor has been investigated, persecuted or thrown in jail for violating Idaho law.
“They said all the women were going to die. Well, the maternal mortality rate in the state of Idaho has declined each year since the law took effect,” Ripley said.
According to the Idaho Capital Sun, Idaho did see a 44% decline in pregnancy-related deaths from 2021 to 2023. A 31.25% decrease was also seen in pregnancy-associated deaths.
Reaction
Rep. Barbara Ehardt, R-Idaho Falls, attended Ripley’s discussion and discussed how this initiative could affect other laws, like House Bill 242, which Ehardt sponsored.
This bill targeted “abortion trafficking,” which prohibited traveling with a minor to other states to perform an abortion without consulting the parent or legal guardian.
She said that if this initiative passed, it could affect one of those laws.
“A parent is still the parent, and the parent needs to be involved,” Ehardt said. “If we truly want to protect our children, then we need to empower parents to be parents.”
Kirt McKinlay, a retired doctor who practiced family medicine in Blackfoot, spoke to EastIdahoNews.com about the voter initiative.
In his view, the initiative will allow abortions out of convenience rather than medical necessity.
“If we can identify a reason that the baby would be healthier outside the womb than inside the womb, then that discussion is had,” McKinlay said.