Transgender people in Idaho will no longer be able to use Medicaid and other publicly funded programs to help cover the cost of gender-affirming medical care under a new state law set to take effect in July.

Republican Gov. Brad Little quietly signed the measure Wednesday, a day after receiving it from Idaho’s GOP-controlled Legislature. Little’s office did not immediately return a request for comment.

The law, which is set to take effect July 1, bars the use of public funds for puberty blockers, hormones, and surgeries for transgender minors and adults and prevents government-owned facilities from providing them.

Those who intentionally violate the law could face misuse of public funds charges, which carry a penalty of up to $10,000 in fines and imprisonment between one and 14 years.

  • @kescusay
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    429 months ago

    Alternate headline: “Idaho governor signs bill encouraging a complete travel and tourism boycott of his state and urging businesses to move elsewhere.”

  • @robocall
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    209 months ago

    Idaho Republican politicians are doing everything they can to run Democrat voters out of the state.

    • @[email protected]
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      149 months ago

      Don’t forget medical care. We’ve lost a lot of OBGYNs and closing Labor and Delivery across the state due to their “Small Government” perception.

  • Jessica
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    179 months ago

    A famous grifter once said that “transgenderism” needs to be eradicated. I think that the people who make legislation like this should be eradicated. Viscerally, from the feet up, in front of all to see. I would gladly pay to watch ☺️

  • @Euphorazine
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    9 months ago

    I hope some good lawyers find some facilities serving Viagra via Medicaid and get that shutdown. I know the law doesn’t say “gender-affirming care”, but here’s hoping.

    • @CosmicTurtle
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      89 months ago

      Based on the wording on the news article, it blocks access to hormones. So if an adult is taking testosterone for low-T or estrogen for menopause, well, then that should be illegal too.

      I’m far too lazy to look up the bill. Is there a left version of these crazy fundie attorneys who sue bakers for stupid religious reasons?

  • AutoTL;DRB
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    19 months ago

    This is the best summary I could come up with:


    Transgender people in Idaho will no longer be able to use Medicaid and other publicly funded programs to help cover the cost of gender-affirming medical care under a new state law set to take effect in July.

    The law, which is set to take effect July 1, bars the use of public funds for puberty blockers, hormones, and surgeries for transgender minors and adults and prevents government-owned facilities from providing them.

    Idaho joins a growing coalition of Republican-led states in banning Medicaid funding for gender-affirming care for transgender people of all ages, according to the Movement Advancement Project, a nonprofit organization that tracks LGBTQ laws.

    A federal judge in June struck down a Florida rule excluding gender-affirming health care from Medicaid coverage, writing in a 54-page opinion that Florida had adopted the rule “for political reasons.” That same month, a federal judge in Arkansas blocked the state’s ban on gender-affirming care for minors, including in the state’s Medicaid program.

    In a May letter to Idaho’s Department of Health and Welfare, Little said he was opposed to using Medicaid funds for puberty blockers, hormones and surgeries for transgender children and adults.

    In a letter to House leadership, Little wrote that while it is important to protect minors “from surgeries or treatments that can irreversibly damage their healthy bodies,” as lawmakers, “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.”


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