One of the strictest abortion bans in the country will be on the ballot this November after Idaho’s secretary of state certified a ballot measure on Monday that would reverse the state’s abortion ban that prohibits the procedure at all stages of pregnancy.
The ballot initiative was headed by a volunteer-run group called Idahoans United for Women & Families, which ran a petition drive to get the measure in front of voters this fall. They gathered more than 100,000 signatures, surpassing the required 70,725 to get on the ballot.
If approved by voters, the measure would create a law for “reproductive freedom”, rather than serve as an amendment to the state constitution.
The change would make Idaho’s law similar to what it was before the supreme court ruled to overturn Roe v Wade in 2022, allowing states to ban abortion. Idaho’s new law would allow abortion until fetal viability, which is generally considered to be after about 21 weeks into a pregnancy. It would also allow people to make their own choices for abortion, contraception and fertility treatment.