RELEASE: IFPC Sues Boise State University Over Abortion Study Documents

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 3, 2026

BOISE – Idaho Family Policy Center last week filed a lawsuit against Boise State University over public records related to an academic study claiming that OB/GYNs are leaving the state because of pro-life laws.

The lawsuit alleges that BSU unlawfully withheld public records from IFPC when it requested the documents and data related to the study. The research for the JAMA Network Open journal article was conducted under institutional review board approval from BSU and was coauthored by a BSU professor.

Seeking to review the methodology and data on which the study relied, IFPC filed a request with BSU under Idaho public records law on December 10, 2025. BSU provided no meaningful response to the request until it produced a single, two-page document on January 27, 2026—nearly seven weeks after the initial request was made, and more than one month after the 10-day deadline imposed by Idaho public records law.

And now – more than seven months later – BSU has still not provided all of the relevant data and documents requested by IFPC.

The findings of the JAMA study are questionable, based on data IFPC received from the Idaho Board of Medicine that appears to tell a different story. According to the state medical board data, the number of actively licensed physicians in Idaho declaring OB/GYN as their specialty actually increased by nearly 20% between 2022 and 2024. This discrepancy calls into question the claim in the JAMA article that the net number of physicians practicing obstetrics fell by 35% around that time.

BSU has a long history of failing to comply with public records law. A senior leader at BSU admitted under oath that the university had changed file names to avoid providing documents in response to public records requests, as reported by Don Day for BoiseDev. Other examples of wrongfully withheld public records and missed deadlines have been documented by Ryan Suppe with Idaho EdNews.

The lawsuit filed last week by IFPC petitions the Ada County District Court to compel the production of all public records relevant to the JAMA article, including uncompiled data, institutional review board approval documents, funding documentation, peer review documentation, internal emails and communications between university faculty working on the project, and external emails and communications between university faculty and other researchers working on the project. The petition to compel production of public records and complaint for damages can be found here.

A statement from Blaine Conzatti, president of Idaho Family Policy Center:

Pro-abortion activists are lying to the people—and Boise State University is stonewalling our efforts to discover the truth. For almost a year, news journalists have highlighted academic research, conducted under the authority of the BSU institutional review board, which reported that OB/GYNs are fleeing the state over our strong pro-life laws. Because those findings seem to be contradicted by other sources, IFPC requested the underlying data and all related documents under Idaho’s public records law. But BSU is unlawfully refusing to comply with our request.

BSU has played fast and loose with the requirements of Idaho’s public records law for a long time. Their evasion needs to end—and we’re going to hold them accountable. BSU’s unwillingness to make the information available to the public is a big issue, especially because the data in the JAMA study seems to be contradicted by other sources. That includes data from the Idaho Board of Medicine, which reveals that Idaho has actually seen a net increase in the number of actively licensed OB/GYNs.

All of this begs the questions: Why is BSU refusing to comply? And are the findings of the JAMA study even accurate? Idahoans deserve to know the truth—and voters need to know whether the narrative that doctors are leaving the state is false. With the upcoming abortion ballot initiative, the need for accurate information has never been more crucial.

A statement from Isaac Helland, litigation counsel for the IFPC Legal Center:

The law is clear: There is no justification for why a university with hundreds of millions of dollars at its disposal failed to produce records in a timely, complete fashion. Idahoans deserve transparency in government—and we trust the courts will see through BSU’s game of hide-and-seek.

About Idaho Family Policy Center

Idaho Family Policy Center is a ministry that advances the lordship of Christ in the public square through engaging the church, promoting God-honoring public policy, and training statesmen. Visit IFPC's website at https://idahofamily.org/

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