On 49th Anniversary of Roe v. Wade, Access to Abortion is at Tremendous Risk in Idaho

Boise — This week, on the 49th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, reproductive rights and access in Idaho are under attack like never before. Our constitutional right to abortion has never been at greater risk, and the days of legal abortion in every state may be numbered. Emboldened by these national signals, Idaho legislators are prioritizing a bizarre and offensive effort to designate Saturday’s anniversary as a “Day of Tears” with flags across the state flying at half-staff and have signaled they will be pursuing a harmful bill modeled after a Texas bill that halted nearly all abortion in the state in September.

Statement from Mistie DelliCarpini-Tolman, Idaho State Director of Planned Parenthood Action Alliances (PPAA):

“This anniversary reminds us how fragile the right to an abortion is in Idaho and across the country. By this summer, the Supreme Court could officially erase nearly 50 years of precedent, and allow states to dismantle abortion access or ban abortion outright. Here in Idaho, out-of-touch politicians have already passed laws that would eliminate access to safe and legal abortion in the event Roe v. Wade is rendered meaningless, on top of harsh abortion restrictions and policies that already put abortion nearly out of reach for Idahoans. Attacks on abortion care disproportionately harm Black, Latino, and Indigenous communities, people in rural communities, LGBTQ+ people, and people struggling to make ends meet. Whether the Supreme Court explicitly overturns Roe v. Wade, the damage has already been done, and we cannot be complacent. We must fight for proactive measures to protect abortion access in Idaho. We have no more time to waste.”

In December, at oral arguments in a case on a Mississippi abortion ban, it seemed possible that a majority of Supreme Court justices are prepared to overturn Roe v. Wade, which established the constitutional right to abortion. Thirty-six million women — nearly half of the women of reproductive age (18-49) in the United States — including 400,000 women in Idaho, and more people who can become pregnant, could lose abortion access. 

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Planned Parenthood Alliance Advocates, Serving AK, HI, ID, IN, KY, WA (PPAA) is an independent, nonprofit, nonpartisan organization educating residents and policymakers about reproductive health issues in Alaska, Hawai‘i, Idaho, Indiana, Kentucky and Washington. PPAA lobbies and educates to advance Planned Parenthood's mission, and engages in limited electoral activities.