One of the greatest sentences penned in U.S. history comes from the Declaration of Independence:
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”
Notice among the unalienable rights, life comes first. Without life, liberty is impossible, and the promise of happiness is meaningless. Fundamental rights exist in a hierarchy where some must logically come before others. At the top of this hierarchy is the right to life, because life is the necessary condition for exercising any other right.
Liberty, therefore, presupposes life. Life provides the foundation upon which liberty rests, while liberty gives life dignity, purpose, and moral worth. When societies claim to defend liberty while permitting the systematic destruction of life in the womb, they undermine the very principle they seek to uphold. If rights are truly inalienable, they must extend to every individual at every stage of development, including the most vulnerable and voiceless among us — the unborn.
This moral contradiction is nowhere more visible than in the abortion industry. What is often framed as “choice” is, in reality, a vast and highly organized system sustained by political power, propaganda, and enormous financial interests. “My body, my choice,” as the progressives’ industry puts it, requires the heartless violation of a basic right to life for the baby — and the subsequent rights to liberty and happiness.
Like the destructive ideologies of Stalin and Mao justifying mass death in service of “progress,” abortion has also been presented by the Marxist feminist movement to women as an avenue for upward mobility and an “escape” from a life of marriage and motherhood, resulting in a staggering number of human lives lost. Between the U.S. Supreme Court’s 1973 decision in Roe v. Wade and its eventual overturn in 2022, more than 65 million legal abortions were committed in the United States through a combination of public and private funding.
Despite abortion being marketed as “healthcare” and somehow altruistic toward women, the philosophical roots of the pro-choice movement are neither philanthropic nor humanitarian. Margaret Sanger, the founder of Planned Parenthood, openly embraced ideas of eugenics, racism, and population control. She argued society should discourage — or outright prevent — the poor, the disabled, and minority communities from reproducing. In Woman and the New Race (1920), Sanger wrote:
“The most serious evil of our times is that of encouraging the bringing into the world of large families. The most immoral practice of the day is breeding too many children.”
Today, Planned Parenthood stands as the largest provider of abortions in the United States, while also serving as the largest supplier of comprehensive sex indoctrination curricula in public schools and the second-largest provider of gender transition hormones. This shapes cultural attitudes about gender, sex, identity, and the value of human life itself.
Sanger’s vision was not one of universal human dignity, but of selective worth, which is the crux of the abortion vs. abolition debate: human value. And, in the progressive world, their demonic, feminist agenda trumps a baby’s value.
We at the Idaho Freedom Foundation (IFF) believe in the intrinsic value of every human life, natural marriage, the promotion of pro-natalist values that encourage large families, and believe every child is worthy of and entitled to life, regardless of stage of development, race, ability, socioeconomic status, or condition of conception.
There is never a reason to end an innocent life and the IFF champions life from conception to natural death, and total abortion abolition. Following abortion abolition, we champion churches, private organizations, and communities to assume their proper role in society to support and empower mothers and families; as well as a reduction of bureaucratic red tape, which makes adoption more difficult for the birth mother and adoptive parents.
During the 2025 legislative session, Sen. Brandon Shippy filed Senate Bill 1059 (S1059), the Idaho Prenatal Equal Protection Act, which would have abolished abortion in the Gem State. Unfortunately, this bill was not given the opportunity to be voted on in committee or on the floor.
The need for this legislation is intensifying; especially this past year. A pro-abortion ballot initiative called the “Idaho Reproductive Freedom and Privacy Act” is in the signature-gathering stage right now. As of late November 2025, the group, Idahoans United for Women and Families — an ironic name for a group attempting to make killing a child easier, harming women and families — announced they have already gathered over 50,000 signatures. Only 71,000 signatures are needed for this ballot initiative to go before the people in the November 2026 general election.
This ballot initiative would “return Idaho to the rules upheld by Roe v. Wade before it was overturned in 2022” and provide the “right to abortion up to the point of the fetus's ability to survive outside the womb.” Additionally, the initiative would “protect access to birth control and IVF.”
The value of human life is not conditional, and the IFF calls on the Idaho Legislature to bring forward S1059 again and PASS abortion abolition for the state of Idaho during the 2026 session. We also call upon the people of Idaho to reject the abortion “rights” ballot initiative being brought before Idahoans in 2026. The IFF commits to working with our sister organization, Idaho Freedom Action (IFA), to fight this evil initiative should it be on the ballot in November 2026.
Abortion is not healthcare. Abortion harms women. Abortion harms families, and taking an innocent life isn’t a “right,” it’s a crime. Life is sacred from conception to natural death and is the first among rights. It’s time to permanently abolish abortion in Idaho.
