(Stop Prop 1 Press Release, October 19, 2026)
BOISE, Idaho — The Proposition 1 campaign to radically expand abortion in Idaho is working hard to convince voters it won’t allow minor girls to get an abortion without their parents’ consent.
A new campaign mailer from Prop 1 claims that “Prop One leaves Idaho’s parental consent laws untouched and intact.”
But the ACLU of Idaho, a supporter of maximally liberalized abortion laws, says on its website that Prop 1’s language conflicts with Idaho’s long-established parental consent laws and would “likely” lead to litigation.
On its Prop 1 FAQs page, under “Would Prop 1 remove parental consent laws?,” the ACLU of Idaho says:
“Prop 1 does not explicitly repeal Idaho’s existing parental consent laws. It does include broad language that could interact with several areas of state code, so legal issues arising from current parental consent laws would likely be resolved in the courts.”
The ACLU cites the text of Proposition 1 itself as the source.
Prop 1’s text only uses the word “person,” instead of “adult” or “woman.” Without an age restriction, minor girls under 18 are included in its abortion provisions. [See yellow highlighted text below.]
Additionally, Prop 1’s text explicitly states, “The provisions of this act are to be liberally construed in favor of reproductive freedom and privacy and are intended to control over any other section of Idaho Code,” and that it is to be implemented “Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary,” which in legal terms means its provisions take precedence over any other Idaho laws that conflict with it.
These two crucial clauses in Prop 1 very clearly make Idaho’s parental consent laws open to litigation, as the ACLU of Idaho argues. [See purple highlighted text above.]
“The people behind Prop 1 know full well it conflicts with Idaho’s parental consent laws,” said Mary Strow, Communications Director for Stop Prop 1. “They chose to write it to include minor girls, otherwise they simply would have used the word ‘woman’ instead of ‘person.’ And they also know Prop 1 will allow legal challenges to parental consent in Idaho. They know this is wildly unpopular in Idaho, which is why they’re trying to deceive Idaho voters. Unfortunately for the Prop 1 campaign, Idahoans won’t be fooled and will reject this extreme abortion measure.”
