Possible mifepristone restrictions raise alarm for some in Idaho, nationwide

As state and federal officials have recently signaled a desire to restrict access to mifepristone — a drug used for abortion — some Idahoan residents and physicians are concerned about the future of dealing with pregnancy complications.

Kayla Smith, a former Nampa resident who joined a lawsuit against the state’s abortion bans, had been denied an abortion in Idaho when she received a fatal fetal diagnosis in 2022. She traveled to a University of Washington clinic where she took mifepristone and misoprostol to induce labor and meet her baby boy before he died shortly after the birth.