All children ‘deserve a chance’: Idaho and the United States react to the governor’s signing of a law banning gender-affirming care

Late Tuesday and into Wednesday, organizations at local and national levels applauded and condemned Idaho Governor Brad Little for the signing House Bill 71.

Little signed the bill just before 6 p.m. Tuesday to criminalize gender-affirming care for transgender minors.

The law takes effect on January 1, 2024. It will block transgender youth from accessing puberty blockers, hormones, and surgeries in Idaho. (Surgeries were already not performed on minors.) This makes providing such medical treatment a crime punishable by up to 10 years in prison.

The Idaho Family Policy Center, a conservative Christian policy and research group that spearheaded the legislation, was one of the first organizations to release a statement on Governor Little’s endorsement. The organization drafted the bill that Rep. Bruce Skaug, R-Nampa, and Senator Lori Den Hartog, R-Meridian, sponsored in the Idaho Legislature.

Blaine Conzatti, president of the Idaho Family Policy Center, said his organization celebrates Little’s decision. Conzatti previously told the Idaho Capital Sun that his organization funded a $5,000 robocall system allowing supporters of the bill to contact the governor directly.

“We are grateful that Governor Brad Little has fulfilled his responsibility to protect vulnerable children struggling with gender dysphoria,” Conzatti said in a press release Tuesday evening.

American Civil Liberties Union of Idaho executive director Leo Morales said in a press release Wednesday that his organization plans to challenge the law in court, calling Bill 71 “harmful” and “unconstitutional.” .

“We are extremely disappointed with the signing of HB 71,” he said. “This discriminatory law criminalizes safe, effective, and necessary health care for young people in Idaho. Moreover, the fact that legislators interfere in the decisions that should be made by families and their health care providers is clearly an excess of government power and is unacceptable.

ACLU of Idaho legislative strategist Amy Dundon also said she was committed to stopping the law. She said she was frustrated that despite testimony from young transgender people and Idaho medical providers, lawmakers and the governor decided to “meddle” in parental rights.

“Trans youth – like all young people – deserve a chance to thrive and feel safe in our state,” she said in the press release. “HB 71 is bad for Idaho and will drive families and doctors out of the state,” Dundon said.

Idaho Freedom Foundation President Wayne Hoffman also released a statement Tuesday evening and thanked the supporters of the organization to contact the governor’s office in support of the bill.

The IFF also started a petition on its website for Idahoans to contact Little’s office. In automated emails sent to the governor’s office, the organization called transgender health care for minors “barbaric.”

“We are grateful that Governor Little has heard … the message of thousands of Idahoans concerned about brainwashing and the long-term effects of radical gender ideology on our children,” Hoffman said in the press release. Tuesday evening. “Idaho will be a state where children can grow up without this kind of harm.”

Hoffman said that in recent years the organization has prioritized tackling “gender ideology”, and he called the move “the culmination of a long fight” to protect children.

Add the words Idaho executive director Chelsea Gaona-Lincoln said in a press release Tuesday night that she has received several calls from Idaho families who are concerned about the bill’s impact on their child transgender.

Gaona-Lincoln said Little’s decision to sign the bill contradicts her values ​​about parental choice and that the bill sends a negative message to medical providers in the state.

“Governor Little has signaled that Idaho is prepared to criminalize doctors for doing their jobs,” she said. “As a state that is already struggling to recruit and retain enough doctors, we are sure the consequences of this enactment will be devastating, especially for people in rural Idaho.”

Gaona-Lincoln said her organization will continue to find ways to support transgender youth.

“We send our love and affirmation to all members of our transgender community and their loved ones who are experiencing this unthinkable harm and government interference caused by a strong and extreme minority in the legislature and the weakness of Governor Little,” said she declared.

The American Principles Project, a conservative advocacy organization based in Virginia, released a statement supporting Little’s decision to take Idaho is the 14th state to restrict gender-affirming care to some extent.

The organization’s president, Terry Schillingpraised the legislation and called gender-affirming health care an “outrage.”

“It is heartening to see lawmakers across the country taking action to protect children from the predatory transgender industry,” he said. “We thank Governor Little and the Idaho Legislature for taking action to protect families and children in their state. And we look forward to seeing other states join them in the weeks to come. »

Idaho Democratic Party Chair Lauren Necochea, a member of the Idaho House of Boise, said in a press release Wednesday that she hopes a legal challenge will strike down the law before it comes into effect. force next year.

“Governor Little has just waived the rights of loving parents to access the medical care they choose for their children,” she said. “His decision criminalizes treatments that have been shown to reduce suicidality, anxiety and depression in young transgender people.

“This legislation hurts our vulnerable children the most. It also harms entire communities. Our friends and neighbors will be driven out of the state. The continued criminalization of standard care endorsed by major medical associations will drive more doctors out of Idaho.

“This is a dark day for Idaho and history will not look kindly on the Republican lawmakers who enacted this legislation,” Nechochea said.

Idaho Director, Planned Parenthood Alliance Advocates Mistie DelliCarpini-Tolman said in a statement Wednesday that people of all gender identities deserve access to quality, affordable, non-judgmental health care, which she says include accurate information about their health care.

DelliCarpini-Tolman said Little’s decision to enact the bill ignores evidence from the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Medical Association and other medical authorities who have said care affirming the gender are essential for some young people.

“My heart breaks thinking about the message that lawmakers in HB 71 and Idaho are sending to LGBTQ+ Idahoans with this hateful law, so let me send one that I hope will go through louder: You are loved. , you are worthy, you deserve joy,” she said. “We support our trans community and will fight this with everything we have.”