Idaho’s Ban on Transgender Surgeries and Medical Procedures for Idaho Youths

Dear Friends,

On Friday, February 16th, I filed an emergency motion with the Supreme Court of the United States regarding Idaho’s ban on transgender surgeries and medical procedures for Idaho youths with gender dysphoria. These medical treatments banned under Idaho law include puberty-blocking hormones, experimental drugs, and irreversible genital removal and mutilations. The Idaho district court as well as the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals have both refused to see the necessity of protecting our kids from this socially driven insanity, devoid of medical necessity. 

I’ve witnessed firsthand the devastating consequences of drugs and procedures used on children with gender dysphoria, and it’s a preventable tragedy. The state has a duty to protect and support all children and that’s why I’m proud to defend Idaho’s law that ensures children are not subjected to these life-altering drugs and procedures. Minors suffering from gender dysphoria deserve love, psychological support, and medical care rooted in biological reality. Denying the basic truth that boys and girls are biologically different hurts our kids.

Our law – Idaho’s law – rightly supports children’s natural biological development, ensuring children experiencing gender dysphoria have a chance for comprehensive healing and compassionate mental health support. Gender dysphoria is the only psychological condition for which unproven, experimental, and irreversible medical procedures are offered to and encouraged for children.

Respected authorities continue to assert that most children will naturally resolve their dysphoria as they mature. Likewise, there is no reliable scientific evidence that these dangerous transition procedures improve long-term mental health. That’s why countries like Sweden, England, and Finland—which once recommended these procedures for children—are now rethinking their policies and restricting them to protect children from the devastating effects these procedures have had on countless lives. The more time that passes, the more the medical community is realizing the long-term consequences for short-term social appeasement. 

Idaho should be free to enforce its law. Protecting Idaho’s children from harm is one of the top priorities of my office. In this case, the harm comes disguised as socially promoted acceptance and inclusivity of experimenting on children with irreversible and medically unnecessary surgeries and drugs. Sometimes the deepest love and compassion for our children comes from saying no. Every parent should know this. 

I recently spoke with a young woman who “de-transitioned” after having previously undergone the surgeries and procedures discussed here. She felt totally betrayed by the medical community. Her words still ring true for me. She said that adults need to understand that gender dysphoria is real and the feelings of children suffering from it are very real. But, she emphasized, cutting off body parts isn’t the solution. Those kids need love and support, not surgeries and procedures that fail to demonstrate convincing improvements and might even cause harm.

Providing compassionate, supportive counseling and guidance is far more in line with the Hippocratic Oath of ‘Do no harm’ than just passing out hormone blockers and scheduling surgeries at the first sign of distress. We need to support our children in their struggles, basing all our decisions on the time-honored principles of evidence-based medicine and stop relying on unproven medical treatments.