Is PBS’s Sarah Varney a “health care” correspondent, or abortion correspondent? She’s obsessively covered the state abortion-ban beat since Roe v. Wade was overturned, from Arkansas to Texas gathering sad stories on abortion denials.
PBS’s post-Dobbs abortion coverage has been wholly focused on lost opportunities to abort, with the hardest cases nationwide reliably rounded up and presented as commonplace.
Varney was in Idaho again for Wednesday’s PBS News Hour story, “How Idaho's abortion ban reshaped reproductive care and fueled a fight for change.”
Back in May 2023, Varney got two abortion stories out of Idaho, at one point reporting dramatically from the Idaho-Washington state border to lament a new Idaho law banning minors from crossing state lines to have an abortion without parental consent.
Co-anchor Amna Nawaz emphasized the politics in her introduction to Varney's new piece on the abortion-expanding measure on Idaho's ballot, using the euphemism "reproductive rights" as well as the more factual term "abortion.".
Amna Nawaz: This November, voters in Virginia, Nevada, Missouri, and Idaho will decide on the future of reproductive rights in their state. In deeply red Idaho, a citizen-led initiative faces an uphill battle to restore some abortion rights. Special correspondent Sarah Varney reports on whether the fallout from the overturning of Roe v. Wade and frustration over the current law will be enough to sway even conservative voters to seek change.
Abby Nichols, Idaho Resident: She said: "This is a nonviable pregnancy. This is incompatible with life. What do you want to do?"
Sarah Varney: Last year, 13 weeks into her wanted pregnancy, Abby Nichols found out her baby had a severe genetic disorder.
Nichols: The doctor came in and she checked for a heartbeat. She just quietly did it on an iPad, and then she said there was. And it was a really sad moment.
Varney: Because of Idaho's abortion law, Abby's doctor was not allowed to end her pregnancy.
The tragedy motivated Nichols to become activist, to Varney's evident approval.
Varney: The next week, Abby, along with her husband, flew to Seattle to get an abortion. She says the experience was incredibly sad and isolating. But it's also one that motivated her family to join a fight to change Idaho's law….On a sunny Saturday in early October, Abby's parents' home became base camp for volunteers door-knocking in support of Proposition 1. The ballot measure would allow for abortion up to fetal viability, which doctors say is about 24 weeks, and in case of a medical emergency that threatens the woman's health. It would also prevent the government from punishing physicians who provide abortion care.
Varney talked to Melanie Folwell of Idahoans United For Women and Families, who helped get Proposition 1 on the ballot.
Melanie Folwell: I think that the idea that our legislature is going to fix the ban, fix the problems with the ban is a fool's errand. And so that is why this election is so incredibly critical. It's this or nothing.
Sarah Varney: But getting a majority of voters on board will not be easy. Idaho is a state dominated by conservative and anti-abortion sentiments. Nearly 70 percent of voters here backed President Trump last election.
A little balance came with soundbites from a pro-life politician, State Sen. Camille Blaylock (R-ID), but Varney also talked to another Republican, an apologetic former backer of the law, State Sen. Jim Woodward (R-ID) who Varney said “admits women's health care has gotten worse.”
Apparently, it’s only anti-abortion voters who must reconsider their viewpoint.
PBS's Sarah Varney in Idaho: "Suzanne is a mother of seven from Northern Idaho. As a lifelong Catholic, she believed in the church's teaching that abortion is immoral....Suzanne started doing research and talking to people in her community who supported reproductive rights." https://t.co/7DsLPS7wcd
— Clay Waters 🇮🇱 (@claywaters44) October 23, 2026
Varney: But observers say the measure's success hinges on Republicans and other Idahoans who are open to reconsidering their view on abortion. People like Suzanne Gallus. Suzanne is a mother of seven from Northern Idaho. As a lifelong Catholic, she believed in the church's teaching that abortion is immoral.
Suzanne Gallus: I wanted to believe what the church said, because it sounded perfect. And we didn't really have to grapple with it because abortion was legal.
Varney: But once it became illegal, Suzanne started doing research and talking to people in her community who supported reproductive rights.
Gallus: We just had no idea how important abortion care was. And when you take it out, it's like the Jenga tower just falls.
Lifelong Catholics for “abortion care”? Gallus has been trotted out in liberal stories for months now.
Varney closed out with Folwell lecturing that an abortion ban is too complicated for a Red state like Idaho.
Folwell: Our success in Idaho would send a message that these kinds of bans, these kinds of policies are deeply unpopular, and that even in places that are very conservative, that are among the reddest states in the entire country, it's not that simple.
A transcript is available, click "Expand."
PBS News Hour
10/21/26
7:28;52 p.m.
Amna Nawaz: This November, voters in Virginia, Nevada, Missouri, and Idaho will decide on the future of reproductive rights in their state. In deeply red Idaho, a citizen-led initiative faces an uphill battle to restore some abortion rights.
Special correspondent Sarah Varney reports on whether the fallout from the overturning of Roe v. Wade and frustration over the current law will be enough to sway even conservative voters to seek change.
Abby Nichols, Idaho Resident: She said: "This is a nonviable pregnancy. This is incompatible with life. What do you want to do?"
Sarah Varney: Last year, 13 weeks into her wanted pregnancy, Abby Nichols found out her baby had a severe genetic disorder.
Abby Nichols: The doctor came in and she checked for a heartbeat. She just quietly did it on an iPad, and then she said there was. And it was a really sad moment.
Sarah Varney: Because of Idaho's abortion law, Abby's doctor was not allowed to end her pregnancy.
Abby Nichols: There's like a piece of you that hopes that they can help you. Like, you're just like, no, my doctors can help me, because that's what doctors do. But you also have heard of other women who haven't received care, and you just are starting to, like, realize that that's you too.
Sarah Varney: The next week, Abby, along with her husband, flew to Seattle to get an abortion. She says the experience was incredibly sad and isolating. But it's also one that motivated her family to join a fight to change Idaho's law.
Woman: It is for that baby who was so sick, and her parents made the right decision for her.
Sarah Varney: On a sunny Saturday in early October, Abby's parents' home became base camp for volunteers door-knocking in support of Proposition 1. The ballot measure would allow for abortion up to fetal viability, which doctors say is about 24 weeks, and in case of a medical emergency that threatens the woman's health.
It would also prevent the government from punishing physicians who provide abortion care.
Melanie Folwell, Idahoans United For Women and Families: This is a hard fight.
Sarah Varney: One of the people who helped get Prop 1 on the ballot is Melanie Folwell.
Melanie Folwell: The tricky thing about Idaho's ban is, it doesn't really care at what your own personal beliefs are. It doesn't really care what your partisanship is. It doesn't really care if you have never considered an abortion. It comes for you all the same.
Sarah Varney: In the four years since nearly all abortion care was criminalized, Idaho has lost 94 physicians who practice obstetrics and gynecology. That's about one out of three OB-GYNs in the state, and three hospitals have closed their maternity wards.
Folwell, a mother and native Idahoan, believes this citizen-led effort is the only option to protect women's health care in the state.
Melanie Folwell: I think that the idea that our legislature is going to fix the ban, fix the problems with the ban is a fool's errand. And so that is why this election is so incredibly critical. It's this or nothing.
Sarah Varney: But getting a majority of voters on board will not be easy. Idaho is a state dominated by conservative and anti-abortion sentiments. Nearly 70 percent of voters here backed President Trump last election.
....
State Sen. Camille Blaylock (R-ID): I understand that this is a -- but this is a personal issue. I mean, I'm a mom, I have carried two babies to term.
Sarah Varney: State Senator Camille Blaylock, who represents a Western suburb of Boise, feels the measure goes too far and worries voters don't fully understand what it would do.
State Sen. Camille Blaylock: And so when I hear that there's a level of Republicans that support this, my guess is that there's just misinformation, that they hear a one-liner like women are dying because of Idaho's laws, and that's just not -- that's just not true. And so, if they had the facts, then maybe they would make a different decision.
Sarah Varney: Idaho's near-total abortion ban went into effect four years ago. It allows a doctor to perform an abortion to prevent the death of a pregnant woman or in the case of rape or incest that is documented by law enforcement.
State Sen. Camille Blaylock: Every word in our current law has been precisely thought about, debated, and put there on purpose. When you open up that law for changes here in Idaho, you do have the gamut in our legislature. And so I have concerns of if we open it up and try to change it too drastically.
Sarah Varney: Blaylock and more than a dozen state legislative candidates have promised to vote to overturn the initiative if passed.
State Sen. Camille Blaylock: I don't want to appear as if I am being flippant or not respecting that. But also I have my moral soul, and I answer to my God, and there's a few things that just really hit there that I, in good conscience, if I had an opportunity to overturn something that I didn't agree with, when -- at this level, I couldn't -- I couldn't not do that.
Sarah Varney: But not all Republicans in the state are happy with the current law.
State Sen. Jim Woodward (R-ID): It didn't take long to understand the problem that we had created, because I was part of creating that problem.
Sarah Varney: Six years after voting for Idaho's abortion ban, state Senator Jim Woodward admits women's health care has gotten worse, especially in Northern Panhandle communities like his.
State Sen. Jim Woodward: Why are we making this so much harder for people than it has to be? And so we need to find some new spot, some new balance that accommodates the reality of pregnancy.
Sarah Varney: To help strike that balance, Woodward introduced a bill last year to allow abortions to prevent a serious health risk and in cases of a fatal fetal condition. It went nowhere.
State Sen. Jim Woodward: I don't support elective abortions, but we need to get our policy back in line with the people of Idaho.
Sarah Varney: But observers say the measure's success hinges on Republicans and other Idahoans who are open to reconsidering their view on abortion.
Suzanne Gallus, Idaho Resident: Ready? Ready?
Sarah Varney: People LIKE Suzanne Gallus. Suzanne is a mother of seven from Northern Idaho. As a lifelong Catholic, she believed in the church's teaching that abortion is immoral.
Suzanne Gallus: I wanted to believe what the church said, because it sounded perfect. And we didn't really have to grapple with it because abortion was legal.
Sarah Varney: But once it became illegal, Suzanne started doing research and talking to people in her community who supported reproductive rights.
Suzanne Gallus: We just had no idea how important abortion care was. And when you take it out, it's like the Jenga tower just falls.
Sarah Varney: That's when she decided to get involved, knocking doors to support the measure.
Suzanne Gallus: The number of stories of people that I heard was overwhelming to me, because I would hear...
Sarah Varney: Where this issue had affected them personally or someone that they knew.
Suzanne Gallus: Yes. Yes, or somebody that they knew. So it just really solidified in my mind how many people are actually affected by abortion.
Sarah Varney: She's hopeful that her fellow Idahoans will see it the same way.
Suzanne Gallus: No matter what your personal beliefs are about abortion, I think we can all agree, when a personal medical decision comes up, who should be making those hard decisions? Should it be you and your husband or your partner and your doctor and your God, or should it be the government?
State Sen. Camille Blaylock: This is -- this is going to be close.
Sarah Varney: Early polling indicated the initiative could get enough support to pass. Still, conservative leaders like Camille Blaylock are confident voters will reject the measure.
State Sen. Camille Blaylock: This is an issue that has been politicized for decades in our country, and I think it's something that will bring Republicans out because they want to make sure that they can cast their vote to show that they're pro-life.
Sarah Varney: But proponents remain optimistic about a victory in November and what it will say to the rest of the country.
Melanie Folwell: Our success in Idaho would send a message that these kinds of bans, these kinds of policies are deeply unpopular, and that even in places that are very conservative, that are among the reddest states in the entire country, it's not that simple.
Sarah Varney: For "PBS News Hour," I'm Sarah Varney in Boise, Idaho.
