Idaho Supreme Court wades into tussle over abortion initiative ballot language

The Idaho Supreme Court heard arguments Wednesday over ballot language describing Proposition One, an abortion-rights initiative, after advocacy group Idahoans United for Women and Families accused Secretary of State Phil McGrane and Attorney General Raul Labrador of mischaracterizing it. The group's attorney argued the state's effect statements are confusing and omit that current Idaho abortion law carries criminal penalties, including prison time and license revocation for providers.

The state's prepared statement says a no vote keeps a law that 'protects the life of the unborn while allowing abortion... when necessary to protect the life of the mother' — language the plaintiffs say wrongly reframes a narrow death-prevention exception as a broader life-protection one. Justices pressed both sides: one worried a bare yes/no statement would be pointless, another noted the state's version omits that a no vote leaves felony liability intact.

The state countered that no short statement could capture the entirety of Idaho's abortion code, and that rewriting the summary would improperly substitute the court's judgment for the Legislature's. One justice remarked the state's phrasing about 'creating rights' reads like a rhetorical nudge against the proposition itself.

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