Idaho voters reject abortion ballot measure as Missouri, Nevada and Virginia back access

Nationwide results for abortion ballot initiatives on Tuesday night largely favored protecting access to abortion and other reproductive care, with the exception of Idaho, where a measure that would have restored access to abortion was soundly defeated.

Idaho’s outcome stood in stark contrast to the other three ballot questions, with 56% voting against the approval of Proposition 1 and 44% voting in favor, nearly the inverse of Missouri’s outcome, where 55% of voters struck down an amendment that would have reinstated the ban that was overturned through a ballot initiative in 2024. 

Other abortion-related measures were on the ballot in Nevada and Virginia, two states where abortion is already accessible until 24 weeks and 26 weeks of pregnancy, respectively. Voters in both of those states passed constitutional amendments ensuring the right to abortion. 

The outcome in Idaho ensures the state’s abortion ban remains intact. The ban prohibits abortion at any stage of pregnancy with exceptions only for rape and incest in the first trimester and to save a pregnant patient’s life.

Blaine Conzatti, president of the Idaho Family Policy Center, the organization that helped craft the ban and campaigned against the initiative, said in a statement that “abortion advocates fundamentally misunderstood Idaho.”

“As we proved last night, a broad majority of Idaho voters support our pro-life laws,” Conzatti said. “This is what happens when Christians speak out and get engaged — we win.” 

Melanie Folwell, executive director of Idahoans United for Women and Families and lead organizer of the initiative, said in a statement that more than $1.3 million in donations from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and the Catholic Diocese of Boise fueled a disinformation campaign about what the law would do. 

Told her baby wouldn’t survive, she had to leave Idaho for an abortion. She’s sharing her story.

“We’re encouraging Idahoans to reach out to their lawmakers, particularly those politicians who encouraged voters to reject Prop 1 and wait for a legislative fix, and demand needed exceptions in the coming session,” Folwell said. 

A federal appeals court ruled on Oct. 30 that Idaho’s law does not include exceptions for a pregnant person whose physical or mental health is in jeopardy by continuing the pregnancy, a situation that Idaho doctors have repeatedly said puts them in a position to feel compelled to wait until a patient’s life is in danger before acting. 

A peer-reviewed study published in 2025 in JAMA showed 114 OB-GYNs left Idaho or stopped practicing obstetrics between August 2022 and December 2024, the first two years after the ban took effect. That number represents 43% of the 268 physicians practicing obstetrics statewide.

Several of those who left have said publicly that the ban made it more difficult to do their jobs without fear of criminal prosecution. Providers found guilty of violating the ban face up to five years in prison, the revocation of their medical license and up to $20,000 in civil penalties. Many doctors who have continued to practice obstetrics and gynecology in Idaho say the loss of those providers has increased their workload to a stressful and at times dangerous degree. 

In the months leading up to the vote, Idaho women shared their stories of needing to seek care in other states, including Utah, because of fatal fetal anomalies, along with others who said their care during a miscarriage was delayed, causing dangerous infections. 

With the failure of the ballot measure, pregnant patients who need an abortion will continue to need to seek care in other states. 

Dr. Caitlin Gustafson, a physician in rural Idaho and board president of the Idaho Coalition for Safe Healthcare, told Stateline she was deeply saddened by the results, but said the fight is “far from over” because she knows every community across Idaho is affected by the law. 

“The work ahead is to make sure that other aspects of reproductive healthcare can stay in place, that we can proactively protect IVF, contraception, and timely miscarriage care,” Gustafson said. “Because that was part of this effort too. We must protect all areas of reproductive freedom and privacy.  I remain committed to fight for women, families, and my medical colleagues who provide safe healthcare across Idaho.” 

Missouri defeats amendment despite heavy lawmaker involvement 

The Fairness Project, a national nonprofit organization that supports ballot initiatives on economic and social issues, funded efforts to defeat Amendment 3 in Missouri, where the legislature attempted to undo an initiative passed by voters in 2024. 

“Missouri is a shining example of politicians trying to take people’s rights away and voters taking them right back,” said Hannah Ledford, executive director of the Fairness Project, in an interview Wednesday. “It is so cool.” 

Ledford said the outcome in Idaho compared with Missouri wasn’t surprising, in part because Missouri’s measure was a defensive move against the legislature attempting to take a right away, while Idaho’s initiative was proactive and would grant rights. 

“The proactive question is just inherently more difficult than convincing voters to vote ‘no,’” Ledford said. 

According to the Missouri Independent, the Amendment 3 effort had significant and organized support from Republican lawmakers this time around, along with Gov. Mike Kehoe’s office and many of the state’s largest churches. It also would have added a constitutional amendment prohibiting gender-affirming care for minors, which is already state law. 

National anti-abortion leaders had pointed to Missouri’s amendment as a possible model for reinstating abortion bans in other states by pairing abortion restrictions with a ban on gender-affirming care.

“When Missouri wins, every other state will learn that these bad amendments can be reversed and undone. But if it loses, no other state will likely try this again for a long time, perhaps for a generation,” said David Bereit, executive director of the Virginia-based Life Leadership Conference, during a virtual fundraising event in October.

Virginia, Nevada enshrine constitutional right to an abortion 

Nevada voters easily passed the second round of the measure amending the constitution to include a right to abortion up to fetal viability, generally considered to be about 22 to 24 weeks of pregnancy. After that point, exceptions could be made to preserve a pregnant person’s life or health. About 63% of voters approved the measure. State law requires that constitutional amendments be passed by voters twice to take effect — it passed with 64% approval in 2024.  

In Virginia, voters approved the amendment that protects the freedom to make decisions about prenatal and postpartum care, birth control, childbirth, abortion, miscarriage management and fertility care. It also protects doctors, nurses and patients from being punished for those decisions and allows exceptions during later pregnancy for abortion if the pregnant patient’s health is at risk or the fetus cannot survive. The measure garnered 62% approval from Virginia voters. 

“Never again will our reproductive rights be a political football in Virginia,” said Han Jones, campaign manager for Virginians For Reproductive Freedom, on Tuesday, according to Virginia Mercury. “It takes multi-year concerted work, but as you can see in Virginia, it’s paying off.” 

Missouri Independent reporter Anna Spoerre and Virginia Mercury reporter Charlotte Rene Woods contributed to this report.

Stateline reporter Kelcie Moseley-Morris can be reached at [email protected].