Chrissy Teigen Returned to Idaho to Back Prop 1. Voters Said No

Chrissy Teigen went back to the state where she spent part of her childhood to campaign for a ballot measure on abortion. A week later, Idaho voters turned it down.

Teigen, 40, traveled to Boise in late October to support Proposition 1, a citizen-led initiative that would have restored abortion rights in Idaho. Voters rejected it on Tuesday, Nov. 3. The Associated Press called the race early the next morning, and unofficial results show about 56% voting No and 44% voting Yes.

What Prop 1 would have done

The measure was sponsored by the group Idahoans United for Women and Families under the formal name Reproductive Freedom and Privacy Act Initiative, according to the Idaho Statesman. It would have allowed abortion until fetal viability and in medical emergencies, and it would have barred the state from prohibiting or interfering with reproductive care, including contraception, fertility treatment, miscarriage management and childbirth care.

Under current Idaho law, abortion is illegal unless it is needed to prevent the woman's death, with exceptions for rape or incest in the first 12 weeks if a police report is filed, the Spokesman-Review reported. Providers can face felony charges, up to five years in prison and consequences for their medical licenses.

Meeting Idaho mothers

On Wednesday, Oct. 28, before a rally, Teigen met privately with a group of Idaho mothers to hear about their pregnancies and the care they received. According to the Lewiston Tribune, she later called their stories "heartbreaking," "maddening" and "hopeful."

On Nov. 2, she described the meeting in an Instagram video, writing that the women had shared "deeply personal experiences with pregnancy, loss, and trying to get the medical care they needed."

"Their stories reminded me just how quickly a pregnancy can go from something joyful to something terrifying," she wrote.

Chrissy Teigen shared a video from her trip to Idaho on Instagram.

Her own story

At a rally at midday that Wednesday, at Treefort Music Hall in Boise, Teigen spoke about her own pregnancies, as she has done publicly for several years.

She described a pregnancy loss in 2020 that involved a placental abruption, according to the Lewiston Tribune. She recalled being told, "You know, you had an abortion," and said: "I couldn't believe it."

"The stigma with reproductive healthcare and IVF and abortion was creeping up on me," she told the crowd, according to the Tribune.

Whitney Montgomery, a Boise educator, also spoke at the event, according to the Lewiston Tribune and KIVI.

Why Idaho

Teigen has said Idaho is personal for her. "I spent part of my childhood growing up in Idaho Falls, so getting to come back this week meant so much to me," she wrote.

She ended her post with a message aimed beyond one side of the debate: "No matter where we live or what we believe, we all deserve compassion, dignity, and access to medical care when we need it most."

The other side

Prop 1 faced organized opposition. The campaign against it ran under the name Stop Prop 1. The Idaho Republican Party also opposed the measure, the Idaho Statesman reported.

After the results came in, Stop Prop 1's Mary Strow said, "The people of Idaho have spoken," according to the Statesman.

How supporters reacted

Supporters took the loss hard.

"This is a tremendous, frankly gutting, loss, especially for the women, families, and physicians of Idaho," said Melanie Folwell, executive director of Idahoans United for Women and Families, the group behind the measure, according to the Statesman. Folwell said women "will continue to suffer needlessly under one of the most cruel abortion bans in the nation," Boise State Public Radio reported.

The result

How other states voted

Idaho was one of several states with an abortion-related measure on the ballot.