A campaign to restore abortion access in Idaho has gathered more than 110,000 petition signatures — well above the roughly 71,000 needed to qualify — and organizers say roughly 28 percent of those signatures came from registered Republicans in a state President Trump carried by nearly 37 percentage points last year.

The Reproductive Freedom and Privacy Act would restore abortion access without government restriction until fetal viability and would also protect access to fertility treatments and contraception. Because Idaho law allows citizens to propose statutes but not constitutional amendments, the measure would require only a simple majority to pass if it reaches the November ballot.

A Campaign Led From North Idaho

The public face of the signature drive is Suzanne Gallus, a Catholic mother of seven from Rathdrum — a small city north of Coeur d’Alene — who has been pregnant twelve times. Gallus helped lead the petition effort and said she personally spoke with around 400 residents while canvassing door to door in north Idaho, a region that leans heavily conservative.

Organizers marked the milestone at an event at the Idaho Capitol on July 2, celebrating the signature total alongside campaign volunteers. Melanie Folwell serves as the lead organizer of the initiative effort.

The signature breakdown, according to organizers, shows 37 percent of signers are Democrats, 33 percent are unaffiliated voters, 28 percent are Republicans, and 1 percent are Libertarians.

Pushback From the Right — and Within the Party

Not everyone is enthusiastic. A local conservative blogger in Kootenai County obtained more than 4,000 signer names from a public records request and published them online, labeling the Republican signers as RINOs. The episode highlighted the tensions the initiative has stirred within Idaho’s Republican base.

Those tensions have a longer history. In 2022, north Idaho Republican delegates rejected a proposed amendment to the state party platform that would have carved out an exception allowing abortion when a pregnant woman’s life was at risk — underscoring how firmly the party’s activist wing has held the line on the issue.

David Ripley, executive director of Idaho Chooses Life, is among those opposing the measure, though the campaign’s broad coalition of signers suggests opposition faces a more complicated political terrain than the state’s deep-red reputation might suggest.

Polling Suggests Broader Public Support

A Boise State University survey found 61 percent of Idaho residents either strongly or somewhat support the Reproductive Freedom and Privacy Act, while 28 percent are somewhat or strongly opposed and 12 percent are unsure. Among Republicans specifically, 45 percent said they support the measure — a striking figure given the party’s official stance. Support among independent voters reached 66 percent. Separately, 55 percent of respondents said they support legal abortion access at least through the first trimester.

Idaho’s Abortion Landscape Since Dobbs

Idaho’s near-total abortion ban took effect in August 2022, following the Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision. The law contains no exception to preserve the health — as distinct from the life — of a pregnant patient. The state has also continued to contest a federal requirement that hospitals provide stabilizing emergency care, a dispute that has drawn national attention.

The human cost has been measurable in the state’s medical workforce. A study found that 114 of 268 obstetrics physicians left Idaho after the ban took effect, with only 20 new practitioners replacing them — a net loss of 94 physicians within two years.

Verification and the Path Forward

State officials are expected to spend at least another week verifying the submitted signatures against voter rolls. If the initiative qualifies, Idaho voters would join several other states weighing reproductive rights questions this cycle. Nevada voters are set to reaffirm a 2024 abortion-access initiative, Virginia’s legislature has referred a constitutional amendment on reproductive freedom to voters, and Missouri lawmakers sent a measure to the November ballot that would ban both abortion and gender-affirming care for minors — a counter-move following Missouri voters’ narrow approval of an abortion-access amendment in 2024.

The outcome of Idaho’s verification process will determine whether the question goes before voters in November, setting up what could be one of the most consequential ballot decisions in the state’s recent political history. The Idaho governor’s race and other statewide contests will likely shape — and be shaped by — turnout dynamics if the initiative qualifies.