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Mormon Church Donates $1 Million to Fight Idaho Abortion Rights Ballot Measure

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The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has donated $1 million to an Idaho political action committee, or PAC, opposing the abortion rights initiative on the ballot this November.

The donation went to the Too Extreme for Idaho Political Action Committee, which opposes the initiative.

“While The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints remains neutral toward political candidates, it actively addresses ballot initiatives it believes carry significant moral consequences,” the church said in a statement. “Accordingly, the Church has joined a coalition of like-minded organizations and individuals in Idaho to dedicate resources toward defeating Proposition 1.”

If passed, the voter initiative would repeal Idaho’s abortion laws, enumerate rights related to reproductive health, and create liability protections for healthcare providers who provide abortion and other reproductive healthcare.

The Idaho Falls radio station NewsTalk 107.9 first reported the donation on Thursday. The Idaho Capital Sun confirmed the donation with a spokesperson for the church on Friday.

Organizers in Idaho, Nevada, and Virginia Are Putting Abortion Rights on Ballot

The large donation comes after Idaho Attorney General Raúl Labrador published an opinion in August that says churches are allowed to donate money to political campaigns — including for and against Proposition 1 — without disclosing their donors, as long as they don’t ask members to donate specifically for the campaign, Boise State Public Radio reported.

Leaders from the church, widely known as the Mormon church, issued a letter against Prop 1 in September, the Salt Lake Tribune reported. The letter was read to congregations last month, the church’s assistant communications director Brian Whitlock said in an email.

“Our long-held stance on abortion remains clear and unchanged,” the four-member U.S. Central Area Presidency of the LDS Church wrote in the letter.

The church, which........

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