Kelcie Moseley-Morris/Stateline

A volunteer helps a young person fill out a form on National Voter Registration Day in 2025. For some young voters, abortion remains a defining issue, but for many others it ranks behind more immediate economic concerns.

2 states, 2 abortion ballot measures, and the effort to win over Gen Z voters

Kelcie Moseley-Morris/Stateline, Anna Spoerre/Missouri Independent

In Idaho and Missouri, where voters will decide future of abortion access on Nov. 3, campaigns are trying to reach a generation dealing with rising living costs, skepticism toward politics

Melanie Folwell, lead organizer for the ballot initiative in Idaho to restore abortion access, speaks to supporters at the Idaho Capitol in July. The nonprofit she leads, Idahoans United for Women and Families, is suing the state over a final segment of ballot language that will also appear in the statewide voter pamphlet.

Regional News

Abortion initiative group sues Idaho state officials over ‘misleading’ ballot language

Kelcie Moseley-Morris/Stateline

Secretary of State Phil McGrane stressed that the issue needs to be quickly resolved by the courts to meet upcoming November ballot deadlines

U.S. District Judge B. Lynn Winmill ruled earlier this month that the state of Idaho cannot regulate abortion when a pregnancy threatens a person’s physical or mental health. Idaho Attorney General Raul Labrador has appealed the decision.

Regional News

Abortion could return to Supreme Court, this time with a focus on women’s health

Kelcie Moseley-Morris/Stateline

Idaho federal judge rules Constitution provides narrow right for pregnant patient to obtain abortion if the pregnancy could be a risk to their health, including mental health

Smoke from massive wildfires in Canada and Minnesota engulf the Washington, D.C. skyline, reducing visibility and casting a colored haze over the Washington Monument in Washington, D.C. on July 17, 2026.

Regional News

Wildfire smoke is now the primary pollutant affecting pregnancy, study shows

Kelcie Moseley-Morris/Stateline

Volunteers pass boxes full of signed ballot initiative petitions through the Idaho Capitol on July 2. If approved for November’s ballot and then by voters, the proposed Reproductive Freedom and Privacy Act would restore abortion access “without government interference” until fetal viability, and would protect fertility treatments and other reproductive care such as contraception.

Regional News

In deep red Idaho, support for ballot question on abortion access is spread across party lines

Kelcie Moseley-Morris/Stateline

Statewide poll conducted by Boise State showed nearly 61% of Idaho residents strongly or somewhat supported proposed Reproductive Freedom and Privacy Act