Activists Take Aim At Anti-Abortion Initiative High Court Asked To Void Signatures Because Ballot Titles ‘Amount To False Advertising’

Abortion rights activists asked the state Supreme Court on Wednesday to void the thousands of signatures already collected by the Idaho Citizens Alliance to put its anti-abortion initiative on the 1996 ballot.

In its petition, a coalition of groups led by the American Civil Liberties Union claimed that Attorney General Alan Lance’s legal descriptions of the initiative are inadequate to fully inform voters of its contents.

Alliance founder Kelly Walton called the challenge an “old, worn-out strategy” to derail the campaign to restrict abortions. But even if the high court agrees, Walton predicted an initiative with revised legal descriptions would win ballot status.

At issue is the failure of the ballot titles drafted by Lance to state that the initiative not only prohibits abortion after a fetus is viable, which is the 21st week of pregnancy under Supreme Court rulings, but also imposes new civil penalties on those involved in the prohibited late-term abortions while legalizing some late-term abortions now illegal and criminalizing others now legal.

“What we’re asking the court to do is ensure that the people signing the initiative are aware of the radical changes it would make,” said Kurt Holzer, representing the ACLU in the case. “The current ballot titles amount to false advertising.”

Joining the ACLU are the Center for Reproductive Law & Policy and Planned Parenthood Federation of America. The court challenge was filed formally on behalf of two Idaho voters, Joanne Buchin and Elizabeth Barker Brandt.

After a cursory review of the petition, Deputy Attorney General David High said, “We remain convinced that the title we prepared is neutral and objective. If the court determines a better title, we really have no objection.”

The high court is expected to handle the case on an expedited schedule.

Ballot titles for initiatives have been challenged only twice in Idaho, and the results have been mixed. In 1958, the court ordered the attorney general to revise the title on a right-to-work initiative that eventually was rejected; two years ago, the court let stand the titles given the Idaho Citizens Alliance’s anti-gay initiative, which narrowly was defeated.

Now, should the high court side with abortion rights advocates, the alliance would have to start from scratch in collecting the 41,335 signatures of registered voters needed to put the initiative on the ballot, and the campaign would not have the benefit of the state fair season that is just ending - a major target for initiative campaigners.