Kootenai County Women’s March draws crowd, backs reproductive rights ballot push

Close to 40 women and men marched through downtown Coeur d’Alene on Saturday morning, walking from the North Idaho College campus to Sixth and Sherman and back as honks and cheers followed them along the route. The Kootenai County Women’s March fell on the fourth anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court decision that overturned Roe v. Wade.

Laura Tenneson, who has organized Women’s March events in Coeur d’Alene since 2020, led the gathering and spoke as the keynote. Before the group stepped off, she told marchers not to engage with any protesters they might encounter.

In April, Idahoans United for Women and Families said it had collected enough signatures to qualify the Reproductive Freedom and Privacy Act initiative for the November 2026 ballot. Supporters said county officials had processed 95% of about 104,000 signatures gathered, far above the roughly 70,700 valid signatures statewide that Idaho law requires, along with minimum totals in 18 of the state’s 35 legislative districts.

The proposed measure would add a statutory right to reproductive freedom and privacy in Idaho, covering abortion, childbirth care, contraception, fertility treatment, miscarriage care, and prenatal, pregnancy and postpartum care. The initiative would reshape Idaho’s abortion restrictions by restoring reproductive rights under state law and giving doctors more room to respond to pregnancy complications and emergencies.

Megan Kunz said she showed up because both men and women need to support bodily autonomy and because Idaho abortion restrictions have affected people she cares about. Jennifer Reiter said women’s rights are being trampled and that people need to respond.