Leaders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints have sent Idaho stake presidencies and bishoprics a letter opposing Proposition 1, the ballot measure that would repeal the state's abortion ban and establish a right to abortion before fetal viability. The letter is scheduled to be read aloud in local congregations this Sunday and again the following Sunday, September 27, and it asks members to speak out against the measure while treating those who disagree with civility.
The letter came from the United States Central Area Presidency and was sent to Idaho leaders Wednesday, according to East Idaho News. “The Church opposes this initiative,” the letter states, while urging members to “voice their opposition to it in a respectful manner consistent with prophetic direction of always demonstrating Christlike love and civility in political discourse.” ABC4 Utah reports the church confirmed the letter's authenticity and said it asked members to oppose the ballot measure directly.
What Proposition 1 Would Actually Do
Formally called the Reproductive Freedom and Privacy Act, Proposition 1 is set for Idaho's November 3 general election ballot, per the same account. The measure would establish a right to make reproductive health care decisions without government interference, covering fertility treatment, abortion before viability, and prenatal, pregnancy and postpartum care, according to the ACLU of Idaho's FAQ on the initiative.
The initiative would allow abortion beyond viability in cases of medical emergency, including complicating physical conditions that threaten a pregnant woman's life or health, serious impairment to a bodily function, or serious dysfunction of a bodily organ or part, according to ABC4 Utah's reporting. It would also prevent the state from penalizing patients, health care providers or assistants for exercising reproductive choices. The ACLU of Idaho notes the measure would preserve providers' right to refuse to perform abortions or other reproductive care based on sincerely held religious, moral or ethical beliefs, and it would not require public funds to pay for reproductive medical treatments, including abortion.
The Church's Position on Abortion
The church says it maintains a policy of neutrality toward political parties and candidates but weighs in on issues it believes carry significant moral consequences, a stance East Idaho News quotes directly from the letter. Per ABC4 Utah, the church's abortion policy opposes elective abortion for personal or social convenience in the majority of circumstances, while potentially allowing exceptions for pregnancies resulting from rape or incest, when a physician determines the mother's life or health is in serious jeopardy, or when the fetus has severe defects that would prevent survival after birth. The church also advises that abortion should only be considered after prayer, according to the same reporting.
East Idaho News reports the letter frames the exceptions similarly, describing allowances “in cases of rape or incest, if the health of the mother is in serious jeopardy or if the fetus has severe defects that will not allow the baby to survive after birth.”
Idaho's Broader Abortion Landscape
Idaho was among 13 states where abortion was banned as of August 10, according to KFF, which also notes that fetal viability is generally presumed to occur around 24 weeks of gestation, depending on the individual pregnancy. Nationally, the Commonwealth Fund's 2024 scorecard found that 21 states had tightened or imposed new abortion limits after the Dobbs decision, and that residents of more than a third of U.S. counties had little or no access to maternity care in 2022, according to the Commonwealth Fund. The same scorecard reported that ten states had not expanded Medicaid eligibility, leaving nearly 800,000 women uninsured, and that maternal death rates were highest among Black and American Indian and Alaska Native people.
Idahoans United for Women & Families, described by ABC4 Utah as a nonpartisan coalition working to protect women, children and families in Idaho, leads the ballot initiative. The Idaho Democratic Party has endorsed the measure, saying it would give Idahoans control over personal health care decisions and keep those decisions private between women, their families and their doctors, according to ABC4 Utah's reporting. The party also said current Idaho law offers no exceptions for the health or fertility of the mother and threatens doctors with prison for providing care, characterizing existing statutes as cruel, dangerous and out of touch, per the same account.
What Comes Next
With the letter set to be read in congregations this Sunday and again next Sunday, Idaho's LDS members will hear the church's position twice before Election Day. The Commonwealth Fund's data shows Idaho voters will be weighing the measure against a backdrop of documented gaps in maternity care access nationally, though the dossier does not provide Idaho-specific rankings or outcome figures beyond the state's inclusion among the 13 states with abortion bans as of August.
