State House of Representatives in Idaho has approved a bill to criminalize transgender treatment for minors that could be punishable by life in prison.
QUICK FACTS:
- The Idaho House of Representatives has approved an aggressive bill that would make giving medical transgender treatments to minors a crime, according to The Hill.
- Punishment for the crime of medical treatments that assist minors with transitioning into another gender includes life in prison.
- The bill also makes it illegal to assist a minor to travel to another state to receive “gender-affirming care,” The Hill reported.
- The bill passed on a mostly party-line vote, adding the medical care of transgender youth to an Idaho law that was already in place regarding female genital mutilation.
- The bill makes it a felony to either perform gender-affirming surgery or minors who claim to be a gender other than what is consistent with their anatomy, or to provide medications that are meant to block or delay the onset of puberty.
STATEMENTS ABOUT THE PRO-KID BILL:
- “These bills do nothing to invest and protect Idaho youth and families, and Idahoans deserve better,” said Chase Strangio, the deputy director for transgender justice at the American Civil Liberties Union.
- “Criminalizing health care for transgender adolescents is counter to science, medicine, and ethics and we stand ready to fight any attack on transgender youth and their families.”
- The bill’s lead sponsor, state Rep. Bruce Skaug (R)s aid on the House floor said of the legislation, “This bill is about protecting children, which is a legitimate state interest. We do that all of the time.”
- “We need to stop sterilizing and mutilating children under the age of 18. This bill is not about the adults or adult trans community at all. It is about children.”
BACKGROUND:
- The bill will now move to the state’s Republican-controlled Senate and if it passes there, on to the Republican Gov. Brad Little, according to The Guardian.
- Conservatives and progressives alike are concerned for the health of children who claim to be transgender, particularly since a 2019 report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) showed that almost 2% of high school students identified as transgender and 35% had attempted suicide in the previous year.
- The strikingly high persistence of suicide attempts in children claiming to be transgender have conservatives reiterating the presence of gender dysmorphia, a genuine mental disorder, and asking professionals to offer treatment for the disorder, not reassurances of the condition.
