{"id":20181,"date":"2026-08-16T10:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-08-16T16:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gemstatepatriot.com\/blog\/?p=20181"},"modified":"2026-08-16T11:07:46","modified_gmt":"2026-08-16T17:07:46","slug":"op-ed-idaho-values-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gemstatepatriot.com\/blog\/op-ed-idaho-values-life\/","title":{"rendered":"Op-Ed: Idaho Values Life"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">You\u2019ve surely seen them by now\u2014thousands of signs popping up throughout the state proclaiming a simple yet profound truth:<strong> Idaho values life<\/strong>. It seems so obvious, but this November Idahoans will be asked once and for all if we truly value all human life, including the unborn.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I\u2019ve been traveling the state these past few weeks, delivering signs and palm cards and hosting training events put on by the Leadership Institute and Idaho Right to Life that give citizens the tools they need to fight back against Prop 1, the radical abortion initiative. We\u2019ve had full houses in Meridian, Nampa, Twin Falls, Grangeville, and Moscow. Tonight, we\u2019ll be in Coeur d\u2019Alene. Later this month, we\u2019ll have training sessions in Ponderay, Idaho Falls, Pocatello, and Rexburg.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Out in Twin Falls, we had quite a few people show up without registering after hearing about the event during their morning church service. Well, we pulled out some extra chairs and made some room. I\u2019m so excited to see Idahoans fired up to defend life. I tell you what, I did not leave that building with a single extra sign\u2014every one of them was taken.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Even moderate Idahoans are beginning to realize how extreme Prop 1 really is\u2014legalizing abortion on demand up to 21, 24, or even 26 weeks of pregnancy, depending on how you read the text, and allowing minors to obtain abortions without parental notification. That\u2019s too extreme for Idaho, and I think voters agree.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Just this week, the governor of Massachusetts signed a new law removing nearly all restrictions on abortions until birth. There are now ten states in the union that allow this barbaric practice. While blue states are doubling down on abortion and even infanticide, I believe Idaho will reject the culture of death and stand strong for life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Many critics say Republicans only care about life until birth, but that\u2019s absurd. Republicans believe that all human beings are made in God\u2019s image and deserve both dignity and equality under the law. We believe that children deserve to grow up in safety and innocence, not groomed or exploited for political purposes. We believe human dignity is best served by hard work and voluntary charity, not confiscatory taxation to support a welfare state. Finally, we believe that the most heinous criminals\u2014those who brutally and wantonly take the lives of others\u2014should face the ultimate penalty following a fair trial and conviction by a jury of their peers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Valuing life means wanting each and every human being ever conceived to reach his or her full potential. Abortion destroys life before it even has a chance to see that potential. That\u2019s not the Idaho way. Vote no on Prop 1 this November, and keep Idaho a state where all life is valued.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>You\u2019ve surely seen them by now\u2014thousands of signs popping up throughout the state proclaiming a simple yet profound truth: Idaho values life. It seems so obvious, but this November Idahoans will be asked once and for all if we truly value all human life, including the unborn. I\u2019ve been traveling the state these past few [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":94,"featured_media":19813,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[243],"tags":[11,12,1223],"class_list":["post-20181","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-opinions-op-eds","tag-abortion","tag-life","tag-pro-life","cat-243-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gemstatepatriot.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20181","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gemstatepatriot.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gemstatepatriot.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gemstatepatriot.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/94"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gemstatepatriot.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20181"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/gemstatepatriot.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20181\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20182,"href":"https:\/\/gemstatepatriot.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20181\/revisions\/20182"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gemstatepatriot.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/19813"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gemstatepatriot.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20181"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gemstatepatriot.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20181"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gemstatepatriot.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20181"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}