October 19, 2026
The Tale of the Two Sisters
One in Idaho. One in California.
By: Brian Lenney
Picture two sisters walking into two different abortion clinics on the same morning…
One’s in Sacramento. The other’s in Boise.
They’re twins, and they got pregnant around the same time. Both are 23 weeks along. And the mom and baby are healthy in both cases with no emergency or complications.
Neither one wants the baby.
So each doctor has to answer the same question:
If this baby were born today, could he survive?
The best numbers we have come from a big NIH study of preemies. Of babies born at 23 weeks, about one in three made it (33%). It’s better today at the best NICUs.
Now the law.
In California, a baby is protected once there’s a “reasonable likelihood” he’d survive outside the womb. After that, abortion is only allowed if the mom’s life or health is at risk.
That means the Sacramento doctor looks at a one out of three shot at surviving and asks whether that’s a “reasonable” chance. Plenty of doctors would say yes. The baby’s viable and the mom’s healthy.
So, no abortion.
The sister in Sacramento goes home still pregnant.
But in Idaho, if Prop 1 passes, the bar moves.
The lefties pushing this (a group ironically called Idahoans United for Women and Families) copied California’s definition almost word for word. Then they changed one word. “Reasonable” became “significant.”
The Boise doctor (or “provider,” because under Prop 1 it doesn’t have to be a doctor) asks a different question…
Is a one in three shot at surviving “significant”?
That’s a “no” for most abortion providers because nobody calls something that fails two out of three times “significant.” So the baby’s not viable and Prop 1 lets her get the abortion for any reason.
The sister in Boise walks out not pregnant.
California would’ve protected him.
Idaho under Prop 1 would not.
Most people in Idaho have no clue this is in there. Idahoans United for Women and Families campaign ads talk about medical emergencies, but neither of these sisters had one.
This is why we have to shut this down.
Here’s a slide deck I made on this recently »
Let me know if you have any questions.
Cheers,
Brian
P.S. Prop 1 gives this right to “every person.” Not every adult. Your daughter can’t get a Tylenol from the school nurse without your permission. Prop 1 could make abortion the exception.
P.P.S. Early voting is open now in a lot of Idaho counties, and Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 3. Forward this to somebody who hasn’t been paying attention. They’re the ones who’ll decide this.
