Today I am so pleased that the Idahoans United for Women and Families have announced their exploratory plans for a ballot initiative effort in Idaho to repeal or modify our draconian abortion laws. I recommend you read the article discussing this organization, as well as the polling demonstrating that our abortion bans are not reflective of Idaho values. I am proud to tell you that I have been part of the working group of lawyers, providers, and advocates behind the scenes for the last two years, planning how to accomplish this reform. Politics in Idaho is still hostile to the change, even though it reflects the will of the people. We need this ballot initiative, but you also must be voting for candidates committing to pushing for this change of law. Currently, while many in the Idaho GOP privately support what I support with reproductive rights, they are constrained by partisan politics and the demands of extremists to do anything about it. If you want change in Idaho on this issue, you need to help us flip more red seats to blue seats. It is really that simple.

I recommend that you also read the recent news reports concerning our current maternal medicine physician shortage, closure of our labor and delivery units, and the general harm that is coming to pregnant people as a result of this terrible public policy.

There are so many ways we could work together to reduce abortion rates that do not cause harm! We have to be working from accurate facts, and we have to be willing to have hard conversations civilly and constructively, in order to get there.

At the beginning of this last 2024 legislative session, Representative Lauren Necochea pointed out to a GOP colleague that forced birth was not the solution to labor shortages. You may have seen the clip circulating and you can watch it on Facebook or Instagram here.

I agree with Rep. Necochea, forced birth is not a solution to labor shortages and in fact, all the data points to it exacerbating the problem. Idaho’s harsh abortion ban is causing people to leave the state out of fear of what will happen to them. Even people who want children are afraid to stay in Idaho in case something happens with the pregnancy and they are unable to get life-saving care. We are also losing OB/GYNs because of the abortion laws as CBS reports “Idaho’s restrictive abortion laws are fueling an exodus of OB/GYNs, with more than half of those who specialize in high-risk pregnancies expected to leave the state by the end of the year.” Our healthcare system, workforce, and general health will suffer greatly from this exodus.

Why Do People Get Abortions?

It is important to understand why people get abortions instead of carrying a pregnancy to term. There are many reasons a person may get an abortion, whether it be medically or socially necessary. As you can see from the chart below, the rate of abortions increases during times of economic and financial stress. If someone is denied an abortion they are more likely to suffer economic hardship according to Reuters, “Women who want an abortion but are denied one are more likely to spend years living in poverty than women who have abortions, a new study suggests” and “Carrying an unwanted pregnancy to term quadrupled the odds that a new mother and her child would live below the federal poverty line.”

Who Gets Abortions?

We know from the data that there are many reasons a pregnant person may get an abortion. Their life or health may be in danger or they may have socioeconomic pressures that make having a child impossible. According to PBS News Hour, “Three-quarters of women who seek abortions were low-income, meaning they had a family income below or up to double the federal poverty level, according to a 2014 study by the Guttmacher Institute, a science-based research group that supports abortion rights.” Pregnancy and raising a child is expensive and time-consuming. Childcare is sorely lacking in our state and the Idaho Department of Labor reports that “Some workers dropped out of the Idaho labor force during the last year because of child or elder care issues.” How can we expect people to raise their children and work when we don’t give them the support they need?

As you can see from the graph below, many age groups get abortions in Idaho and this may be due to a myriad of reasons.

The Economic Toll of Abortion Bans

Not only are people leaving Idaho and depleting our workforce, including essential healthcare workers, but there are far-reaching economic consequences. As CNN reports, “there was an 11% increase in children placed in foster care in states with certain abortion restrictions called TRAP [Targeted Restrictions on Abortion Providers] laws, following the enactment of those TRAP laws, relative to states without such abortion restrictions.” 11% is a lot of increase for a system that is already overburdened. This puts stress on the entire economy, eventually affecting even those who have no connection to those getting abortions. The children in foster care are also placed at a particular disadvantage for their future as “they’re obviously affected negatively in terms of their education, their health, and their mental health.” Abortion bans have the potential to devastate our economy and labor force is far-reaching and long-lasting ways.

Why You Should Vote For Me

The harsh bans are not what Idahoans want. In addition to the newer survey cited in today’s Idaho Capital Sun article, a previous survey showed that “33% of Idahoans said they favored keeping Idaho’s abortion law as is, while 58% of Idahoans favor changing the existing law” and “Of the Idahoans who favored changes, 24% percent wanted to expand exceptions to include the health of the mother and non-viable pregnancies, 19% favored no restrictions to abortion access, and 14% favored allowing abortion until 22 or 24 weeks, which is often considered the time range when a fetus can survive outside of the womb, but banning it after that time frame.” Most Idahoans want reasonable laws about abortion and believe that the current bans are too extreme.

I promise I will be fighting with everything I have to get meaningful health exceptions into our draconian Idaho abortion laws. I will fight for full protection of and restoration of reproductive freedoms. I will fight to eliminate the civil lawsuit provisions which are nothing but tools for abusers. My opponent for seat 29A, Dustin Manwaring, co-sponsored the 6-week ban/civil lawsuits provisions as soon as he was re-elected. DO NOT let him tell you he is a moderate on the issue. He has not voted that way. Dustin may well be one of the well-meaning IDGOP who agree with me that we need to at least relax the language of our abortion bans significantly. Yet even though he now holds a leadership position in the IDGOP, he has taken no action to revise these laws to help Idaho families and doctors. Dustin is chained to his parties’ extremists. You need to elect someone who will never be so constrained, so we can fix the myriad of serious problems and negative consequences I predicted when Dobbs was decided on June 24, 2022. If this is an issue you care about, I am without question your very best choice for D29, Seat A.