The Idaho State Capitol Building in Boise shines in the sunlight on Jan. 7, 2025. (Pat Sutphin for the Idaho Capital Sun)
A bill to subsidize crisis pregnancy centers in Idaho is not moving forward.
In a 5-4 vote, legislators in the Senate State Affairs Committee on Friday voted not to advance Senate Bill 1077, likely killing the bill for the remainder of the legislative session.
Crisis pregnancy centers are typically nonprofit organizations that provide pregnancy-related services to individuals experiencing an unplanned pregnancy. Most are religiously affiliated and provide those services from an anti-abortion perspective.
The centers do not have to be staffed by licensed medical professionals, and many centers have been criticized for spreading misinformation and using emotional manipulation to dissuade someone from seeking an abortion, such as claims that having an abortion increases a person’s risk of cancer or future fertility issues, or that the abortion pill is dangerous, according to the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology. States including Louisiana, Arkansas and Kansas already provide large amounts of taxpayer dollars to crisis pregnancy centers, States Newsroom reported.
The bill would have subsidized crisis pregnancy centers in Idaho through a grant program with the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare, providing more than $1 million in taxpayer funds to qualified centers, with centers receiving a minimum grant of $25,000. It also would have amended Idaho’s abortion law, which allows exceptions for abortion in cases of rape or incest. In such cases, the bill would have required physicians to present informed consent materials to pregnant individuals 24 hours prior to performing an abortion.
“The state of Idaho has taken, on behalf of the citizens of Idaho, a strong pro-life position…” bill sponsor Sen. Ben Adams, R-Nampa, said to the committee. “This legislation affirms that position and allows us to take additional steps to support expectant mothers. It also allows for potential federal funds that get sent to Idaho to have somewhere to go to support pro-life (organizations).”
Adams said he came up with the legislation himself, and he was not approached by any individual to run it.
“This is just reinforcing the state’s position and assuring that informed consent is adhered to,” Adams said.
Critics also have concerns about the privacy within the centers. Most centers offer free services, which means they do not bill insurance providers and are therefore not subject to penalties under the federal HIPAA law for disclosing a patient’s health information, States Newsroom reported.
Mixed testimony between anti-abortion advocates
Thirteen people testified to the committee about Senate Bill 1077, most of whom opposed the bill, including Dr. Martha Lund, a retired OB-GYN physician.
“Supplying these facilities with hard-earned taxpayer dollars is an insult to the women in Idaho and to the hard working, actual women’s health care providers who work hard every day to keep Idaho’s women healthy,” Lund told the committee.
Several anti-abortion Idahoans testified in opposition to the bill, including John Crowder, a Pocatello resident who told the committee he is Christian and anti-abortion. As the former board chairman of a religious crisis pregnancy center, Crowder said he does not believe crisis pregnancy centers lack funding.
“Being privy to our financial records, it was clear that we had no difficulty in raising the funds necessary to fulfill our mission without government handouts,” Crowder said.
While he appreciates the bill sponsor’s intent, he said he does not believe taxpayer dollars should subsidize nonprofits, including those who do provide abortion care.
“Providing taxpayer funds to organizations on either side of this moral question is inappropriate,” Crowder said. “Such decisions to give financial support should be left to churches and individuals, not the government.”
At least two crisis pregnancy center leaders in Idaho spoke in favor of the bill.
Joyce Day, the executive director of Compassion and Hope Pregnancy Center in Pocatello, spoke in favor of the bill. Day supported the amendment adding an informed consent clause to Idaho’s abortion law and said the legislation would benefit her staff, who are outgrowing their current facility because of a rising number of clients.
“This grant would ease those growing pains, while allowing us to serve more women and men and families with excellence,” Day said.
Jennell Faulkner, the executive director of Nest Pregnancy Care Center in Idaho Falls, said the grant would be “life-changing” to her organization.
Motion to advance crisis pregnancy center bill fails
Sen. Kelly Anthon, R-Rupert, made a motion to send the bill to the Senate floor with a recommendation that it pass.
Anthon said he believes the intent of the legislation is to address criticism that Idaho should provide more support to women facing pregnancy since abortion is almost entirely outlawed.
“It may have a difficult path forward, but I think it’s worth the dialogue,” Anthon said. “For that reason I made the motion.”
Freshman Sen. Brandon Shippy, R-New Plymouth — who ran on a conservative Christian and anti-abortion platform, and who proposed a bill earlier this year to criminalize women who seek abortions — said he would vote against the motion because it would disincentivize individuals from donating to these centers if the government subsidizes them. The committee’s only Democrat, Sen. James Ruchti, D-Pocatello, said the bill is a clear violation of the Idaho Constitution, which says no public funds should be used toward religious entities.
The motion failed in a 5-4 vote:
- Votes in favor: Sens. Kelly Anthon, R-Rupert; Ben Adams, R-Nampa; Lori Den Hartog, R-Meridian; Ben Toews, R-Coeur d’Alene
- Opposed: Sens. Treg Bernt, R-Meridian; Jim Guthrie, R-McCammon; Brandon Shippy, R-New Plymouth; Mark Harris, R-Soda Springs; James Ruchti, Pocatello
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