Measure creating right to abortion before fetus viability, and post-viability to protect health; right to privacy; healthcare provider liability protections.
The measure seeks to change Idaho's laws by introducing a right to reproductive freedom and privacy including a right to abortion up to the point of the fetus's ability to survive outside the womb. After fetal viability, there would be no general right to abortion except in cases of "medical emergency." The "medical emergency" exception would expand Idaho's current life exception and allow abortions when pregnant women face complicating physical conditions that threaten their life or health, "including serious impairment to a bodily function" or "serious dysfunction of any bodily organ or part."
The proposed measure codifies a right to make reproductive decisions, including contraception, fertility treatment, and prenatal and postpartum care. This includes a "right of privacy" in making these decisions. The measure seeks to prevent the state from enforcing certain abortion laws protecting the life of the unborn child. It would also impose a requirement that any restrictions on reproductive decisions, including abortion prior to fetus viability, must be "narrowly tailored to improve or maintain the health of the person seeking reproductive health care." The measure would also prevent the state from penalizing patients, healthcare providers, or anyone who assists in exercising the proposed right.
Funding Source Statement: No funding source is required for the Reproductive Freedom and Privacy Act as it does not create any new financial obligation on the state. Because no funding source is required, the Act has no impact on income taxes, sales tax, or product taxes.
Fiscal Impact Statement: The State estimates the initiative would increase state expenditures between $3,100 and $7,800 annually, less than 0.001% of the state share of Idaho's Medicaid budget. This impact is derived from the costs of treating chemical abortion complications for women enrolled in Idaho's Medicaid program. Medicaid covers medically necessary services to treat complications from all abortions. It is anticipated that as legal abortions increase, the complications will also increase. This will likely result in an increase in Medicaid covered services and expenditures to treat complications from chemical abortions, which the State has reliable and readily available data to support.
Question: Shall the above-entitled measure proposed by Proposition One be approved?
A YES vote would support creating a right to abortion before fetal viability - defined as a fetus' ability to survive without extraordinary medical measures - and after fetal viability in cases of medical emergency; providing protections against professional discipline and civil and criminal liability for healthcare providers; and codifying a statutory reproductive right to freedom and privacy.
A NO vote would support making no change to Idaho's current law, which preserves the life of preborn children by prohibiting abortion, except when necessary to prevent the death of the pregnant woman, and during the first trimester in documented cases of rape or incest reported to law enforcement.
