Committee sends 'Idaho Medical Freedom Act' RS31876 to print; sponsor replaces coronavirus language with 'medical intervention'

Senator Dan Foreman, R‑District 6, presented RS31876 to the Senate Health and Welfare Committee and described it as an amendment to Title 73 that would rename the existing Coronavirus Stop Act the "Idaho Medical Freedom Act" and replace references to the coronavirus with the term "medical intervention." "This terminology represents any pharmaceutical or biological agent or product designed to alter or restrict the biological functioning of the human body," Foreman said during his presentation.

Under the draft, Foreman said, state, county and local governments — and public, private and parochial schools at all levels — could not require a "medical intervention" as a condition of attendance, campus entry, employment or receipt of government benefits unless federal law required the intervention. He said the bill would also prohibit businesses from requiring medical interventions as terms of employment except when federal law requires them for travel to a foreign jurisdiction.

Foreman argued the proposal protects individual choice over what a person puts into their body and invoked principles of personal liberty. "That decision is a matter involving basic human rights," he said.

Senator Wintrow said she would support sending the RS to print but raised questions she expects to explore at a formal hearing about the draft's scope — specifically how "medical intervention" is defined and how the bill would treat longstanding requirements such as childhood immunizations or responses to contagious‑disease threats.

Senator Lenny moved to send RS31876 to print; Senator Ziederfeld seconded. The motion carried on a voice vote. The transcript shows committee members registered support for a print hearing; no roll‑call tally was taken in the committee record.