Idaho becomes second state to make gender-affirming health care for minors a felony

Idaho Gov. Brad Little (R) on Tuesday gave final approval to legislation that classifies the administration of gender-affirming health care to minors as a felony crime, punishable by up to a decade in prison.

Under Idaho House Bill 71, any person who “knowingly authorizes” or provides gender-affirming health care to a patient younger than 18 years old will be guilty of a felony under state law. It will take effect Jan. 1.

Idaho is the second state, after Alabama, to enact a felony ban on the administration of puberty blockers, hormone therapies and surgeries to transgender young people. A federal judge last year temporarily blocked the Alabama law from taking effect, pending the outcome of a lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) on behalf of two Alabama families with transgender children.

Federal legislation introduced this year would also make it a felony to provide gender-affirming health care to youth.

With the addition of Idaho, 13 states have now adopted a law or policy that bars transgender minors from accessing gender-affirming health care, including 10 that have done so this year.

Most major medical organizations agree that gender-affirming care for transgender youths and adults is safe, effective and medically necessary.

In a letter sent Tuesday to state lawmakers, Little wrote that he recognizes the role society plays in “protecting minors from surgeries or treatments that can irreversibly damage their healthy bodies.”

“However, as policymakers we should take great caution whenever we consider allowing the government to interfere with loving parents and their decisions about what is best for their children,” he wrote.

The passage of House Bill 71, officially titled the “Vulnerable Child Protection Act,” has been years in the making. Republican state lawmakers have introduced the measure in each of the last three legislative sessions, although earlier drafts of the bill included more severe penalties, including life imprisonment.

“I’m not going to lie: This has been a long battle over the last few years, but looking back, we can now see God’s good providence through it all,” Blaine Conzatti, president of the Idaho Family Policy Center, the conservative Christian group that drafted the legislation, wrote Tuesday in a blog post.

Conzatti said thousands of the group’s supporters sent emails and made phone calls to Little’s office encouraging him to sign the bill.

Little’s press secretary, Madison Hardy, told the Idaho Capital Sun on Tuesday that the governor’s office over the last week had been overwhelmed with messages that called for action on the bill. Most of them urged Little to sign the measure into law, she said.

“The Governor’s Office regularly receives calls, emails, and letters from constituents about pending legislation throughout the session,” Hardy said. “House Bill 71 has stimulated more constituent contacts – calls, emails, letters – than any piece of legislation this year.”

LGBTQ groups on Tuesday condemned Little’s approval of the bill, which they said risked worsening a youth mental health crisis that disproportionately impacts LGBTQ young people.

“This bill goes against decades of expert guidance on best-practice transgender medical care and allows the government to override personal medical decisions made between patients, their doctors, and their parents,” said Kasey Suffredini, vice president of advocacy and government affairs at The Trevor Project, an LGBTQ youth suicide prevention organization.

“Lawmakers should be prioritizing efforts to protect the health and well-being of Idaho’s young people – not passing laws to isolate trans and nonbinary youth further,” Suffredini said. “We will continue fighting back against these dangerous efforts, along with our partners and allies on the ground.”

In a statement on Wednesday, Idaho Democratic Party Chair Rep. Lauren Necochea said Little’s action on the bill will harm vulnerable children and teenagers and push families and health care providers out of the state.

“Governor Little just signed away the rights of loving parents to access the medical care they choose for their children,” she said.

Necochea added that she’s hopeful a successful legal challenge will strike down the new law before it takes effect next year.

“Nevertheless, this action sends a cruel message to our transgender youth,” she said. “It’s a dark day for Idaho and history will not look kindly on the Republican lawmakers who enacted this legislation.”