BOISE, Idaho — Pro-abortion rights, and anti-abortion groups marched through downtown Boise Saturday morning, sharing different messages at different times - centered around the same topic.
Events from the Idaho Women's March and Boise March for Life took to the Statehouse steps to express dueling opinions on abortion.
Idaho Women's March
Several hundred from the Idaho Women's March first rallied at the Capitol Building Saturday morning.
"It's time that we stand up and speak our voice," Idaho Women's March Organizer Nancy Harris said.
The pro-abortion rights event was centered around empowering women's voices, and advocating for healthcare and abortion rights in the Gem State.
"Women's voices are seldom heard, and certainly not at the volume of the male politicians around," Harris said. "I think for two hours a year, we should be able to stand here on the Capitol steps and tell our truth to the legislature, to the politicians and to each other - that these are important issues that we need to be able to speak freely about. Two hours a year isn't too much to ask."
This is the first time the Idaho Women's March has been held in-person since the Supreme Court voted to overrule Roe in Dobbs v. Jackson (Mississippi) Women's Health, paving the way for many states, including Idaho, to implement criminal penalties for terminating a pregnancy.
Idaho bans abortion with some exceptions: when the pregnancy threatens the life of a mother, or in cases of rape or incest proven by law.
"Who the heck do they think they are taking away the rights of a million-plus women in Idaho?" Harris said. "These 90-some Republicans, the GOP who feel they have the right to take away our freedoms to make medical choices for ourselves."
Boise March for Life
Just hours later, the Boise March for Life made its way to the steps of the Statehouse.
"We have an America where the fight for the right to life is far from over, but more important than ever before," Bose March for Life keynote speaker Catherine Glenn Foster said.
The anti-abortion march and rally has been held every year on the anniversary weekend of the Roe v. Wade decision. That tradition has continued following the Dobbs decision - which allowed states to outlaw abortion.
"Idaho is now the epicenter of the fight for the human right to life in America," Glenn Foster said. "That is because of the good pro-life laws that the legislature right behind me has been passing."
Glenn Foster said that their group's fight isn't over.
"All across our nation, there are pro-life advocates who more than ever before have an opportunity to speak out, to be heard, and to understand that their message and their voice matters," Glenn Foster said. "Because after almost 50 years of legalized, constitutionalized abortion, we now have that cap removed by the U.S. Supreme Court. Now, it has gone back to being a state issue - and now the voices of every single one of our citizens, every single person here in Idaho, can be heard."
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