Idaho’s Republican-controlled Senate blocks bill criminalising gender-affirming care for trans youth
Republican legislators in Idaho have blocked a bill that would have made giving trans children gender-affirming care a crime.
House Bill 675 (HB 675) passed through the state’s Republican-controlled House of Representatives on 8 March by a vote of 55 in favour to 13 against.
If implemented, it would have seen those who give children gender-affirming care, such as puberty blockers and hormone therapy, punished by up to life in prison, according to the bill’s text.
However, legislators in the Idaho Senate, which is also dominated by the GOP, released a statement confirming that HB 675 will not progress any further at this time as they believe it undermines parental rights. “The Idaho State Senate Majority Caucus strongly opposes any and all gender reassignment and surgical manipulation of the natural sex of minors,” the Republican Senate Majority Caucus said in a statement on 15 March. “HB 675 undermines parental rights and allows the government to interfere in parents’ medical decision-making authority for their children.
