----BOISE Abortion dominated Idaho's political and social landscape in 1990, from the day state lawmakers convened last January through the post-mortems on the dramatic Democratic sweep in the Nov. 6 election.
Never has a single issue so consumed the state's emotion for such an extended period, and it was voted the year's top news story in Idaho.
A bitter legislative debate and eventual gubernatorial veto of what would have been the nation's most restrictive state abortion law thrust Idaho into the national spotlight and polarized an electorate that swelled the pro-choice ranks in the state legislature.
The ramifications of the abortion controversy were seen in a number of the other stories that made up the state's top 10 news events of the year in balloting by the newspaper editors and broadcast news directors of The Associated Press. In addition:
2. Narrow pro-choice victories gave Democrats 21 state senators, throwing the chamber into a partisan deadlock.
3. Idaho celebrated its statehood centennial.
4. Democratic Gov. Cecil Andrus won an unprecedented fourth term.
5. Republican U.S. Sen. James McClure announced his retirement and Republican Congressman Larry Craig easily claimed the seat.
6. Pro-choice Democrat Larry LaRocco won Craig's House seat, putting it in Democratic hands for the first time in 24 years.
7. The Andrus administration underwent internal strife as several department directors ran into problems.
8. Idaho's surplus-swelled treasury prompted lawmakers to endorse unprecedented increases in state aid to education.
9. The state's resurgent economy produced yet another surplus before beginning to cool as recession gripped much of the rest of the nation.
10. The Air Force effectively abandoned plans for a controversial expansion of the Saylor Creek bombing range in southwestern Idaho.
Buoyed by the U.S. Supreme Court ruling six months earlier that opened the way for some restoration of state control over abortion, the National Right to Life Committee targeted traditionally conservative Idaho, with its legislature heavily influenced by Mormons. The committee sought to force a test of the high court's commitment to the 1973 decision legalizing abortion.
More than two months of wrangling and maneuvering produced a bill banning abortion except in cases of rape reported to police within seven days, incest if the victim is under 18, severe fetal deformity or a physical threat to the life of the woman.
With the nation focused on the Statehouse, the House voted 47-36 for the ban and the Senate endorsed it two weeks later, 25-17. That sent the measure to a governor with a long-professed opposition to abortion. The legislative vote ignored party lines, but it produced a general view of Democrats as pro-choice and Republicans as pro-life.
Abortion advocates jammed the Capitol steps every night for over a week, hoping their strength would convince Andrus to veto the bill. The National Organization for Women threatened to boycott Idaho potatoes and other products if Andrus signed the measure, while pro-life forces promised to buy more goods to counteract any boycott.
Amid a deluge of calls and telegrams to his office, the governor kept his own counsel, expressing his first public concern about the legislation just 30 hours before he finally vetoed the bill on national television.
Acting just 30 minutes after the legislature adjourned for the year, making any override attempt impossible, Andrus said it was too restrictive in cases of rape and incest and too liberal in cases of severe fetal deformity.
Right to Life leaders immediately labeled him a traitor to his avowed pro-life views and pledged to make him pay at the ballot box. Pro-choice forces countered by embracing the governor despite his continuing opposition to abortion on demand.
The public debate quickly cooled, but the issue lingered through the election campaign. The GOP nominated staunch pro-life candidate Roger Fairchild to challenge Andrus, but his campaign never caught fire. At the same time the Republican primary showed surprisingly strong support for the party's only pro-choice gubernatorial contender, Milton Erhart.
The legislative debate spurred abortion activists to field a large number of candidates for the state legislature, and the combination of the primary and general elections turned a 25-17 pro-life Senate majority into a 24-18 pro-choice majority.
The pro-choice minority in the House grew from 36 to 40.
Abortion played a major role in the state's No.2 story of 1990. It was the key to Democratic ouster of two incumbent Senate Republicans from Boise victories that left the chamber in a partisan 21-21 tie. It is the first time in three decades Democrats have not been in the minority.
Cynthia Scanlin, a minister who announced her candidacy during one of the March pro-choice rallies, and Sally Snodgrass used heavy financial support from the Idaho Education Association to win the pivotal races. Both said they ran because of the legislature's pro-life action.
Scanlin defeated the pro-life bill's primary sponsor, freshman Roger Madsen, while Snodgrass ousted Republican Floor Leader Rod Beck, one of the chamber's staunchest pro-lifers.
Neither victory was assured until more than 20 hours after the polls closed, and once the partisan tie became obvious, Democrats began demanding an equal voice in operating the chamber.
Republicans pledged equity in recognition of the 21-21 tie, but leaders promised to use the tie-breaking vote of GOP Lt. Gov. Butch Otter, the Senate's president and presiding officer, to retain operating control.
They made good on that promise in the Dec. 6 organizational session, retaining the leadership posts and all committee chairmanships.
Their only concession was equal membership on committees for Democrats, who put their claim that Otter could not vote on internal, organizational matters before the Idaho Supreme Court as the 1991 session neared. But the high court ruled on Christmas Eve that the state Constitution contains no restriction on when the lieutenant governor may vote to break ties in the Senate.
