Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Medical Freedom topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Committee votes to print RS31876, proposed Idaho Medical Freedom Act limiting medical mandates
Summary
Senators voted to send RS31876 to print; the bill would replace references to 'coronavirus' with a broad definition of 'medical intervention' and would prohibit most public- and private-sector medical mandates in Idaho, with limited federal exceptions.
The Senate Health and Welfare Committee voted to send RS31876 — introduced by Sen. Dan Foreman, R-District 6 — to print for formal introduction. Foreman described the measure as a rewrite of the existing “Coronavirus Stop Act” that would instead be titled the “Idaho Medical Freedom Act.”
“...the proposed Idaho Medical Freedom Act replaces all references to the coronavirus with the term medical intervention,” Foreman said, defining that phrase as “any pharmaceutical or biological agent or product designed to alter or restrict the biological functioning of the human body.” He said the bill would bar public, private and parochial preschools, K‑12 schools, postsecondary institutions and businesses operating in Idaho from imposing medical interventions as a condition of attendance, employment or receiving services, with one exception where federal law requires medical interventions for travel to certain foreign jurisdictions.
Foreman also told the committee the bill prohibits state, county and local governments from requiring medical interventions, and bars conditioning government benefits or services on receiving one. The draft also would prohibit salary differentials based on whether an employee has received or used a medical intervention, Foreman said.
Procedure: Senator Lenny moved to send RS31876 to print; Senator Zieterfeld seconded. Senator Wintrow said she supported printing but noted she had questions about the bill’s definitions and how the restrictions on businesses would operate in practice and that she expected to ask those at a later hearing. The motion carried on a voice vote.
What’s next: Sending the RS to print allows a formal hearing and public comment; the bill text will be examined in detail before any committee vote on the merits.
