There was a ‘pathway' to expand abortion access in Idaho. Why did Prop 1 fail?
In a survey last year, Boise State researchers found a “wide range” of opinions on abortion. Twenty percent of Idahoans wanted abortion completely banned, while 25% wanted no restrictions on abortion at all. More common, researchers found, were Idahoans who wanted some abortion access — at least through the first trimester of pregnancy — but with restrictions. The results suggested that Idahoans were not universally bought in on the state’s strict abortion ban — and that “there was potentially a pathway” for expanding abortion access, albeit with restrictions, in the state, said Jaclyn Kettler, a political science professor at Boise State University. To make such a change through the initiative process, the proposal would need to garner at least 50% of the vote. That would require it to appeal to those who wanted some restrictions on abortion, as well as some of the people who told the researchers they were “not sure” how many restrictions the state should place on the procedure, Kettler told the Idaho Statesman. Supporters of Proposition 1 , a ballot initiative this year to expand abortion access in Idaho, pitched their proposal as just that: a middle-of-the-road policy that could moderate Idaho’s strict abortion laws without
