Three Republican women team up to defend birth control access in Idaho

Two former Republican state representatives and a former state senate candidate are teaming up to educate people about contraception and defend access to birth control in Idaho.

Business Owner Tara Malek, and former State Representatives Kelley Packer and Laurie Lickley started the Idaho Contraceptive Education Network in the wake of the repeal of Roe v. Wade. The idea behind the organization came after the founders noticed some policy discussions conflated contraception with abortions.

“We want to make sure that everyone is crystal clear that there is a difference between contraceptives and abortion, and there is a critical and crucial role that contraceptives play,” Malek said.

The network wants to counter misinformation about birth control, ahead of the upcoming legislative session. Malek said they saw there was a lack of understanding about the role and function of birth control.

An abortion is defined by the deliberate termination of a pregnancy. According to the World Health Organization, contraceptives do not cause abortions, they prevent pregnancies from occurring in the first place, either through disrupting the menstrual cycle, blocking passageways or preventing fertilization.

“To call contraceptives an avenue for abortion I think is really harmful and detrimental,” Malek said. “It is really dangerous for us as a society and as a state to not have a clear understanding, a clear line between those two things,” adding they were concerned anti-abortion legislation could end up banning certain types of contraception in the state.

The three founders are pro-life and Republican, but Malek said the network wants to be educational, not political.

“We’re encouraging personal responsibility by allowing individuals to actively engage in family planning,” she said.

The ICEN is hoping the website can be a one-stop place for up-to-date information on birth control for both community members and policy makers.