Idahoans should reject the Reproductive Freedom and Privacy Act | Opinion

Rejection RFPA initiative

Idaho voters, do not be misled by polished language and emotionally charged buzzwords. The so-called Reproductive Freedom and Privacy Act sounds harmless and empowering. It is neither.

This initiative would create a sweeping statutory right to abortion up to fetal viability and severely restrict Idaho’s ability to protect unborn children. It would override the will of citizens expressed through their elected representatives and replace it with a broad legal shield for abortion. This is not about healthcare. It is not about privacy. It is about expanding abortion access in our state.

For years, I have walked alongside women in crisis, afraid, overwhelmed and alone. What they need is not easier access to abortion. They need support, resources, responsible fathers and a community that shows up.

Abortion is often born from fear and isolation, not empowerment. Idaho has chosen to protect life because we believe every human being has inherent dignity. This initiative attempts to undo that protection under the banner of freedom. But freedom without responsibility abandons the most vulnerable.

We can strengthen maternal care, adoption, foster systems and real support for women. But we should not enshrine abortion as the solution. If asked to sign, decline.

Heather Lawless, Juliaetta

Don’t spare AG from cuts

I am going to take a crack at satire because expressing the anger I feel over this would not be suitable for printing.

Our special Attorney General has had the courage to ask the Legislature to restore the budget cuts to his office. His people are so outstanding that they should not have to deal with any of the consequences of the budget cuts our special AG has been asked to make. I’m sure the AG never thought the tax cuts, which he surely must have favored, would hurt anyone, least of all his own office.

The cuts certainly won’t hurt Idaho’s K-12 schools, and upper education only turns students into thinkers and liberals. Disruptions to health care or social services only affect lazy people, so who cares about “those people” anyway. The list of people these tax cuts will hurt is just in the minds of crazy people, like Democrats.

Besides, thinks the AG, the people of Idaho will always vote Republican anyway, so I don’t really have to care what this request sounds like or the fact the holdbacks will hurt a lot of people much more than my staff.

Donna Carlson, Boise

Downwinders need compensation

I am writing to spread the word about the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act (RECA) which as of July 2025 includes the entire state of Idaho. The program expires at the end of 2027.

RECA provides $100,000 in government compensation to down winders who later developed any of a number of common cancers. The person need not have died from the cancer. People can file for themselves; spouses can file for a deceased spouse; and children can file for deceased parents.

A lawyer is not needed to file a claim. The person must have lived anywhere in Idaho for at least one year between 1951 and early November 1962; or for the entire 32 days from June 30-July 31, 1962.

Applications and supporting documents (birth and death certificates, certified medical records etc.) together with proof of having lived in Idaho during the exposure timeframe (school, property or employment records, photos, diaries, letters, etc.) are submitted online directly to the DOJ.

It’s mind-boggling to think that over 100 nukes were exploded above ground at the Nevada test site less than 600 miles from Boise. When reviewing information about the program, make sure you are on an official government website.

Peter Angleton, Boise

The deficit is exploding

An Open Letter to our Congressional Representatives:

I was told not so long ago that the GOP was concerned with taxes, an efficient government, being tough on crime, protecting individual rights, and no more wasteful foreign wars. Yet the Idaho Congressional delegation stays silent as the Trump administration has ballooned the deficit to 1$.9 trillion and imposed a regressive tariff tax without Congressional approval.

We see daily stories of government waste (our FBI director flying to Italy to party with U.S. Hockey is the latest), allowing an administration to pardon criminals and continue to protect the people in the Epstein files, an administration that has executed US citizens for protesting and is regularly violating the 1st, 4th and 5th Amendment rights of U.S. Citizens, and now is threatening to go to war with Iran without any Congressional approval.

My question to Sens. Jim Risch and Mike Crapo, and Reps. Russ Fulcher and Mike Simpson: When did you fully abandon your responsibilities and oath to the Constitution to kneel at Donald Trump’s feet and abandon your constituents? Why do you ignore the plight of your constituents in order to serve one man?

Gabriel Burgess, Boise

Bathroom bill targets businesses

As any business owner will tell you, the HB607 supposedly “protecting” us from where people needing to relieve themselves go; this is a ridiculous and unenforceable bill. Senators should not vote for something totally impractical and sanctimonious.

This is an attack on businesses as well as the LGBTQ+ and all other customers.

Just what the already overwhelmed justice system needs, another path to more law uits our taxes will have to defend. Do the legislators now want cameras and vigilantes in our bathrooms?

Sheila Robbins, Boise