ASUI passed a resolution opposing Idaho’s Fetal Heartbeat Preborn Child Protection Act and introduced legislation opposing a state amendment barring gender-affirming surgeries and hormonal treatment for minors.
After being introduced in the previous meeting, ASUI reconvened Wednesday to discuss the Fetal Heartbeat Act and put it up for a vote. The Idaho bill would ban abortions when a fetal heartbeat is detectable and implement a “private enforcement mechanism” that would allow for civil cases to be filed by relatives against the healthcare professionals who either attempted or performed what would be deemed an unlawful abortion.
Sen. Ellie Erickson argued that people who identify as “pro-life” should focus instead on shifting resources towards more well-developed sex education programs and easier access to contraceptives.
“It’s not about life if you are not willing to protect the life of a person with a uterus. It is not about life if you let the families of people who are not pregnant sue healthcare providers,” Erickson said. “What pro-life should mean is to care about the (person) who’s life is being directly impacted.”
Senators who voted in favor of the resolution reiterated that their vote was not necessarily reflective of them holding pro-abortion views.
“I am pro-choice, I am not pro-abortion,” Sen. Martha Smith said, adding that there are far better solutions to preventing abortion in her own community, such as the Life Choices Clinic in Lewiston that provides free pregnancy services for the community.
ASUI’s resolution was not without opposition, however.
“Taking away a human life because you aren’t ready to raise it is not (ethical),” Sen. Theodore Ertel said, adding that the presence of student groups with pro-life views needed to be considered.
After some back-and-forth discussion, the bill passed the senate with a 9-2 vote.
ASUI then shifted to a resolution opposing Idaho House Bill 675, which would add a provision within the state code to make gender-affirming surgeries and hormonal treatment fall within the bounds of the state’s child genital mutilation laws.
The bill, which would apply exclusively to minors, is characterized by Vice President Katelyn Hettinga as being “obsolete” on arrival given the Standard of Care for treating transgender people that have been established by The World Professional Association for Transgender Health. Under the standards, a patient seeking gender-affirming surgery must be 18., making it so no minor would be eligible to seek such a surgery under the preexisting standards.
The bill does not target just surgery, however, gender-affirming hormone therapy would similarly be prohibited under the bill. According to the WPATH Standards of Care, no physical treatment is recommended to children, instead “social transition, mental health care and familial support” are the preferred treatments. For adolescents, WPATH offers three kinds of physical treatment including puberty blockers, which are reversible, masculinizing or feminizing hormone therapy, which is partially reversible and surgical procedure, the last of which is recommended against for minors.
According to Mayo Clinic, puberty blockers are most effective when implemented before puberty starts, or between the ages of 10-11 for most children. When implemented early, Mayo Clinic notes that puberty blockers can help alleviate depression amongst children questioning their gender identity, prevent the need for future gender-affirming surgeries and provide additional time for parents and their children to come to a determination whether further treatment is needed.
If the Idaho bill were to pass, the puberty blockers would become ineffective since the process of puberty would have already been completed upon reaching age 18.
“Should the treatment of medically recognized gender dysphoria be included in the child genital mutilation laws?” Vice President Hettinga said. “I don’t think so. I think that contributes to transphobic stigma. I think it also minimizes the impact that genital mutilation has in our state, in our country and worldwide.”
Royce McCandless can be reached at [email protected]