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Yahoo
03-04-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Idaho House passes revised ‘medical freedom' bill, after tense debate
A person stands in front of the Liberty Bell replica at the Idaho State Capitol building in Boise on Jan. 11, 2023. (Otto Kitsinger for Idaho Capital Sun) After a long debate Wednesday, the Idaho House passed — on a nearly veto-proof majority — a bill that would ban business, governments and schools from requiring medical interventions. House Bill 472 is the House's revised version of a so-called medical freedom bill that Gov. Brad Little recently vetoed. The House's 40-minute debate Wednesday turned contentious and oftentimes definitional. Bill cosponsor Rep. Robert Beiswenger, R-Horseshoe Bend, once refused to answer a question from another lawmaker. Opening the House's debate, Beiswenger said the bill 'prevents medical force, medical mandates. People can choose them if they want to, but they don't have to if they don't want to. You can ask people to leave your place of business. But you can't force them into medical treatments like vaccines or other kinds of treatments.' A quarter of the Idaho House's 70 lawmakers rose to debate the bill, which was evenly split in support and opposition. But the House ultimately passed the bill on a 46-21 vote, with one fewer vote in support than the House's vote on the original bill, Senate Bill 1023, two weeks ago. (Three House members were absent for Wednesday's vote. None were absent for the original bill vote.) Critics' central concern on the bill was that it would prevent workplaces from refusing service — or entrance of their facilities — to sick people. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX Asked three times if the bill would prevent that by Rep. Dan Garner, R-Clifton, Beiswenger replied by suggesting he believed it would not. 'Can the business ask someone to leave — force someone to leave, if they feel like they are sick?' Garner asked. 'Again, the bill doesn't address it directly. But I believe a business would be within their rights to ask someone to leave if they are sick,' Beiswenger replied. Garner didn't seem convinced. 'This bill, to me, goes a step too far (in) that it imposes someone's freedom or rights on their private property or private business,' he said. Debating in favor of the bill, Rep. Kyle Harris, R-Lewiston, argued that debate was straying from the bill's intent. CONTACT US Debating against the bill, Rep. Ben Fuhriman, R-Shelley, and Rep. Todd Achilles, D-Boise, referenced the bill's specific language. 'I don't care what your intentions are. A law is a law,' Fuhriman said. 'And it's written right here on page two, line 29: A business entity doing business in the state of Idaho shall not refuse to provide any service, product, admission to a venue, or transportation to a person — because that person has or has not received or used a medical intervention.' After Gov. Little vetoes Idaho 'medical freedom' bill, Legislature pursues tweaks Like the original bill that Little vetoed, two new bills introduced this week in the House and Senate would pursue similarly broad medical mandate bans. The bills would ban businesses and any Idaho governments — local, county or state — from requiring medical interventions for employment, admission to venues, transportation, or providing products or services. The bill would've also extended to schools in Idaho — private or public — and colleges, universities and trade schools, blocking them from requiring medical interventions for school attendance, employment, or entrance into campus or school buildings. Under the bills, medical interventions include 'a procedure, treatment, device, drug injection, medication, or action taken to diagnose, prevent, or cure a disease or alter the health or biological function of a person.' (The House tweaked the bill Wednesday to add a comma between 'drug' and 'injection.') The House's revised bill, House Bill 472, adds language specifying that the bill wouldn't overrule existing powers of school districts, or school board trustees — as already granted in Idaho law. After passing the House on Wednesday, the bill is headed to the Senate for consideration The Senate's revised bill, Senate Bill 1210, exempts day cares and adds language specifying the school medical mandate ban provision is subject to various other Idaho laws that let school boards block sick students from attending, spell out parental rights, and more. The Senate amended its version on Wednesday by tweaking the new language related to schools. It's not immediately clear when the Senate will vote on the amended bill, or consider the House's version. To become law, Idaho bills must pass the House and Senate, and avoid the governor's veto. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
02-04-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
After Gov. Little vetoes Idaho ‘medical freedom' bill, Legislature pursues tweaks
Idaho Gov. Brad Little gives his annual State of the State address on Jan. 6, 2025, on the House floor at the Statehouse in Boise. (Pat Sutphin for the Idaho Capital Sun) Four days after Idaho Gov. Brad Little vetoed a bill that would've banned medical intervention mandates — including vaccines, medical treatment or medicine — by businesses, governments, schools and colleges, the Idaho Legislature's immediate path forward to respond remains unclear. The governor vetoed the bill Saturday. On Monday, the Idaho Senate introduced a new tweaked version of the bill. On Tuesday, the Idaho House made a similar move. But the Senate has not officially attempted to override the governor's veto; the original bill narrowly passed the Senate and would need broader support to pass a veto override, which requires two-thirds support in each legislative chamber. Senate President Pro Tempore Kelly Anthon, R-Rupert, hasn't ruled out a vote to override the governor's veto on the bill, he told the Idaho Capital Sun in an interview on the Senate floor Tuesday afternoon. But first, he said, lawmakers are focused on working with the governor 'to come up with language that is doable.' Asked if the Senate would override the governor's veto, Anthon told the Sun 'It very well could happen. But until we know that the road … is completely at a dead end, you won't see that happen. I think you're going to first see, 'Can we work with the governor to come up with language that is doable?' But you may not want to play that card or give up that leverage until you know you can't work out a deal.' SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX The Senate's revised bill, Senate Bill 1210, exempts day cares and adds language specifying the school medical mandate ban provision is subject to various other Idaho laws that let school boards block sick students from attending, spell out parental rights, and more. The House's revised bill, House Bill 472, adds language specifying that the bill wouldn't overrule existing powers of school districts, or school board trustees — as already granted in Idaho law. To become law, Idaho bills must pass the House and Senate, and avoid the governor's veto. Right now, the Legislature is in the middle of a negotiation, Anthon told the Sun, and he doubts the new bills will become law as drafted. 'I personally think that none of those bills, as printed, will end up becoming law,' he said. The new bills appear to be competing versions of revised bills that attempt to address the governor's concerns over the original vetoed bill. Explaining his veto of the original bill, Senate Bill 1023, Little said he valued medical freedom but worried that the bill 'removes parents' freedom to ensure their children stay healthy at school because it jeopardizes the ability of schools to send home sick students with highly contagious conditions,' including measles. The Idaho governor's office couldn't be immediately reached for comment about how much either bill addresses Little's concerns over the original bill, called the Idaho Medical Freedom Act. 'Once the bill got vetoed … we start down a road where we try to figure out 'What's a bill that can actually pass both Houses?' Anthon told the Sun. 'And so you start to see the clamor of legislation.' The Idaho Legislature is more than a week past Republican leadership's nonbinding goal to adjourn, or end, this year's legislative session on March 21 — largely due to budgeting delays by the Legislature's powerful budget committee, the Sun previously reported. On Tuesday afternoon, the revised Senate bill was scheduled to be considered in the Senate State Affairs Committee, where it could've been advanced to the full Senate for a vote. But the meeting was canceled. Sen. Dan Foreman, R-Moscow, cosponsored the original bill that the governor vetoed and the revised Senate bill. He declined to comment on the bill's future to the Sun on Tuesday. Senate State Affairs Committee Chairman Jim Guthrie, R-McCammon, told the Sun in a Tuesday interview that Foreman had asked him to remove the bill from the committee's agenda. But Guthrie said he didn't know Foreman's reasons. Anthon, the top Senate Republican, told the Sun that Foreman 'is working really, really hard to get a policy across the finish line that effectuates, at the end of the day, the goal — and the goal is to get that medical freedom piece in place.' 'How to fine tune that language to get all of the different players happy is very difficult. So there's a negotiation taking place,' Anthon said. 'Sometimes you have to throw out a piece of legislation to get people to the table. So Senator Forman has done that. It looks like the House has done that a couple of times now. And once that piece of legislation is printed, the dialog starts. So I think we're just in the middle of a process.' Idaho Attorney General Raúl Labrador on Monday urged the Idaho Legislature to override the governor's veto, calling the bill 'the defining bill of this session.' 'Five years ago, COVID-19 brought chaos: lockdowns, mandates, business closures, school shutdowns, and restrictions that crushed our freedom,' Labrador said in a prepared statement. 'In hindsight, the damage to our society, children, and economy was far worse than the virus itself. I ran for Attorney General because our State failed to protect our citizens from government overreach. The legislature now has the opportunity to do the right thing.' Labrador is a former U.S. House of Representatives member. In 2018, he lost a Republican primary governor's election challenge to Little. In 2022, Labrador was elected as Idaho attorney general. Idaho Freedom Action, the lobbying arm of the Idaho Freedom Foundation, also supported a legislative veto override. Before Little vetoed the bill, Idaho Republican Party Chairwoman Dorothy Moon urged people to ask Little to sign the bill. Both bills introduced this week modify a bill that previously passed the Legislature, and was vetoed by Little. The original bill would have banned businesses and any Idaho governments — local, county or state — from requiring medical interventions for employment, admission to venues, transportation, or providing products or services. The bill would've also extended to schools in Idaho — private or public — and colleges, universities and trade schools, blocking them from requiring medical interventions for school attendance, employment, or entrance into campus or school buildings. CONTACT US The new broader medical intervention requirement ban the governor vetoed would have expanded on a previous Idaho law banning COVID vaccine requirements, which Little signed in 2023, despite its similarities to one he vetoed a year earlier, the Idaho Statesman reported. This year's broader bill — amended twice — was cosponsored by Sen. Foreman and Rep. Robert Beiswenger, R-Horseshoe Bend. Health Freedom Defense Fund President and Founder Leslie Manookian wrote the bill. Under the bill, medical interventions include 'a procedure, treatment, device, drug injection, medication, or action taken to diagnose, prevent, or cure a disease or alter the health or biological function of a person.' Business medical intervention mandates for employment would still be allowed in a few excepted circumstances, including in certain federal travel scenarios if jobs require entry into facilities that require medical interventions, or if required by federal law. The bill would also exempt medical intervention bans in situations where employers require 'personal protection equipment, items, or clothing … based on existing traditional and accepted industry standards or federal law.' But the bill says COVID-era requirements, such as for masks or vaccines, are not exempt from the ban. The bill would allow the Idaho attorney general or county prosecuting attorneys to enforce the law through injunctive relief, which are essentially civil court actions issued in lawsuits. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
01-04-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Idaho AG Labrador wants lawmakers to override Gov. Little's veto of ‘medical freedom' bill
Idaho Attorney General Raúl Labrador in a statement Monday urged lawmakers to override Gov. Brad Little's veto of a bill that expanded the state's 'medical freedom' law by banning vaccine mandates, calling it 'the defining bill of this session.' It was the first time at least in recent years that the attorney general has pushed lawmakers to counter a governor's executive action on a bill, which Little said would jeopardize schools' and day cares' ability to keep children safe by preventing them from taking actions to prevent contagious diseases. It was Little's first veto of a bill this legislative session. Labrador 'doesn't generally weigh in on legislative issues,' and had never pushed for a veto override, spokesperson Dan Estes told the Idaho Statesman by email. 'But this is something that he feels very strongly about.' The bill, Senate Bill 1023, would have expanded on a law that prohibits businesses from requiring COVID-19 vaccines. The bill would ban businesses, schools and preschools from requiring any medical intervention, including all types of injections and actions 'taken to diagnose, prevent or cure a disease.' 'I urged the House and Senate to override the governor's veto of Senate Bill 1023 and protect the rights of Idahoans,' Labrador said in the statement. Both chambers would need to vote on the bill again and receive two-thirds support to override a veto. The Senate approved the bill with less support than that — a 19-14 vote. 'I don't know if the Senate has the votes to override that bill,' House Speaker Mike Moyle, R-Star, told the Statesman on Saturday. In a Saturday letter explaining his decision to veto the bill, Little included a list of other bills he signed into law, including those this month that banned mask mandates and allowed health care professionals to refuse treatments that violated their personal beliefs, the Statesman previously reported. 'Calling Senate Bill 1023 'medical freedom' is a total misnomer. Idaho already boasts the most medical freedom of any state in the union, and this bill works against parental choice,' Little said in an emailed statement. 'Parents deserve to send their children to school or day care knowing they will be safe from contagious illnesses that disrupt families' lives.' Under state law, Idaho's attorney general is at times tasked with defending the state and executive branch, including the governor, in legal challenges. But Labrador previously told the Statesman that he considers himself the attorney for 'the people of Idaho' and will favor the Legislature, 'the voice of the people,' when the Legislature and executive branch butt heads. Labrador campaigned in large part on the government response to the COVID-19 pandemic, when former Attorney General Lawrence Wasden defended Little's emergency powers, the Statesman previously reported. Though Little never mandated masks, he ordered a government shutdown that drew controversy; he lifted the order shortly after a month. 'I ran for attorney general because our state failed to protect our citizens from government overreach,' Labrador said in Monday's news release. 'The Legislature now has the opportunity to do the right thing.' Labrador, a former U.S. representative, ran for governor and lost to Little in the 2018 GOP primary. The two have also clashed in other fights at the Legislature, including a lawsuit over the Legislature's decision to back out of selling the Idaho Transportation Department's headquarters. Joan Varsek, a spokesperson for Little's office, did not immediately reply to a request for comment. Idaho AG celebrates end of 'meddlesome' emergency abortion lawsuit as case is dropped Gov. Little boasts 'medical freedom' in Idaho, vetoes bill to ban vaccine mandates The people's lawyer? Raúl Labrador term marked by conflict with officials, employees
Yahoo
30-03-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Idaho Gov. Brad Little vetoes bill to ban medical requirements in business, schools, government
Idaho Gov. Brad Little gives his annual State of the State address on Jan. 6, 2025, on the House floor at the Statehouse in Boise. (Pat Sutphin for the Idaho Capital Sun) Gov. Brad Little vetoed a bill to ban Idaho businesses, local and state governments, private and public schools, and colleges and universities from requiring medical interventions, such as vaccines, treatment or medication. Senate Bill 1023, called the Idaho Medical Freedom Act, would have banned businesses and any Idaho governments — local, county or state — from requiring medical interventions for employment, admission to venues, transportation, or providing products or services. The bill would've also extended to schools in Idaho — private or public — and colleges, universities and trade schools, blocking them from requiring medical interventions for school attendance, employment, or entrance into campus or school buildings. Little vetoed the bill Saturday — the first bill the Idaho governor has vetoed this year. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX 'Medical freedom is an Idaho value. However, this bill removes parents' freedom to ensure their children stay healthy at school because it jeopardizes the ability of schools to send home sick students with highly contagious conditions including measles, lice, ringworm, pink eye, strep throat, stomach viruses, the flu, and other illnesses that disrupt families' lives,' Little wrote in a transmittal letter explaining his veto. This year, Little signed into law a bill to let Idaho doctors and health care entities refuse care that violates their beliefs. He cited that bill as one of several examples of his support of 'true medical freedom in Idaho.' 'We are proud that Idaho already boasts the freest laws in the country when it comes to personal medical decisions, and we need to keep it that way,' Little wrote. 'Parents already have enough to worry about while raising their children. They do not need government imposing more limitations on keeping children safe and healthy from contagious illnesses at school.' In 2022, Little vetoed a bill that would ban Idaho businesses from requiring COVID vaccines. 'I have been consistent in stating my belief that businesses should be left to make decisions about the management of their operations and employees with limited interference from government,' Little wrote in his transmittal letter explaining his veto. The new broader medical intervention requirement ban the governor vetoed would have expanded on a previous Idaho law banning COVID vaccine requirements, which Little signed in 2023, despite its similarities to one he vetoed a year earlier, the Idaho Statesman reported. This year's broader bill — amended twice — was cosponsored by Sen. Dan Foreman, R-Moscow, and Rep. Robert Beiswenger, R-Horseshoe Bend. Health Freedom Defense Fund President and Founder Leslie Manookian wrote the bill. In a column published Thursday, Idaho Republican Party Chairwoman Dorothy Moon urged people to ask Little to sign the bill. She referenced support for the bill by Dr. Ryan Cole, an Idaho pathologist whose Washington medical license has been restricted after state regulators found he shared COVID disinformation and broke medical standards by virtually prescribing ivermectin to COVID patients, against medical practice, the Idaho Capital Sun previously reported. 'In 2020 and 2021, it felt like the whole world had gone mad,' Moon wrote. 'Many of us feared for the future of freedom in America. But this is 2025, and much has changed since those dark days. The American people sent Donald Trump back to the White House with a mandate to set things right. He, in turn, appointed Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to lead Health & Human Services. Like Dr. Cole, RFK Jr. has long been skeptical of Big Pharma's rhetoric and the government overreach that enabled it.' Idaho Freedom Action, the lobbying arm of the Idaho Freedom Foundation, in an email alert Saturday said the governor 'betrayed Idaho,' arguing Little 'chose special interests' over 'the interests of Idaho's families.' The group asked supporters to send form emails to Idaho state lawmakers requesting they override the governor's veto. Overriding a gubernatorial veto requires two-thirds support in each chamber of the Idaho Legislature. The bill narrowly passed the Senate on a 19-14 vote, and the House passage barely cleared that two-third threshold on a 47-23 vote. Under the bill, medical interventions include 'a procedure, treatment, device, drug injection, medication, or action taken to diagnose, prevent, or cure a disease or alter the health or biological function of a person.' Business medical intervention mandates for employment would still be allowed in a few excepted circumstances, including in certain federal travel scenarios if jobs require entry into facilities that require medical interventions, or if required by federal law. The bill would also exempt medical intervention bans in situations where employers require 'personal protection equipment, items, or clothing … based on existing traditional and accepted industry standards or federal law.' But the bill says COVID-era requirements, such as for masks or vaccines, are not exempt from the ban. The bill would allow the Idaho attorney general or county prosecuting attorneys to enforce the law through injunctive relief, which are essentially civil court actions issued in lawsuits. veto SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
30-03-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Gov. Little boasts ‘medical freedom' in Idaho, vetoes bill to ban vaccine mandates
Idaho schools for now will be able to continue actions to prevent spreading diseases, after Gov. Brad Little on Saturday vetoed a bill that would prohibit mandates on medical interventions. Little vetoed Senate Bill 1023, which would have expanded on the state's previous law prohibiting businesses from requiring COVID-19 vaccines. The bill would ban businesses, as well as schools and preschools, from requiring any medical intervention, including all types of injections. The bill would also bar mandates from any treatment 'or action taken to diagnose, prevent or cure a disease.' Little in his transmittal letter wrote that while 'medical freedom is an Idaho value,' the bill would prohibit schools from sending students with contagious conditions home. In the letter, Little included a list of other bills he signed into law, including those this month that banned mask mandates and allowed health care professionals to refuse treatments that violated their personal beliefs. 'Calling Senate Bill 1023 'medical freedom' is a total misnomer. Idaho already boasts the most medical freedom of any state in the union, and this bill works against parental choice,' Little said, in an emailed statement. 'Parents deserve to send their children to school or day care knowing they will be safe from contagious illnesses that disrupt families' lives.' This was Little's first veto of the legislative session, and the Idaho Legislature could choose to vote on the bill again to try to override the veto. But the Senate in February approved the bill in a 19-14 vote, less than the two-thirds support it would need for the bill to become law by overriding Little. Senate Republican leaders didn't immediately respond to a request for comment. Health Freedom Defense Fund Founder Leslie Manookian, who one lawmaker had described as the 'real architect' of the bill, told legislators at a committee meeting that the bill was 'protecting our God-given rights to decide what's best for ourselves.' But some lawmakers had doubts. Rep. Lori McCann, R-Lewiston, previously said the changes would be too far-reaching by going from COVID-19 vaccines to every medical intervention. 'This is a bridge too far that I cannot get over,' McCann said. 'It is too broad.' House lawmakers passed the bill with more than two-thirds support. House Speaker Mike Moyle said that hopefully the Legislature could either send Little another bill addressing his concerns or just override the veto. 'I don't know if the Senate has the votes to override that bill, I haven't heard yet,' Moyle told the Statesman. 'Maybe there's an easy way to fix (the bill.)'
