Tag: Idaho

2 governors sign ‘heartbeat’ bills to protect unborn

– April 27, 2021

On Monday and Tuesday of this week, the governors of two states — Oklahoma and Idaho, respectively — signed ‘heartbeat bills’ into law. These laws protect preborn children from the moment a heartbeat can be detected, which is usually around five to six weeks gestation. Though the preborn child’s brain is the first organ to appear, the child’s heart begins to beat between 16 and 22 days after the moment of fertilization (when a new human life begins).

Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt signed not just one, but three pro-life bills into law on Monday. HB 2441 is the ‘heartbeat bill’ which bans an abortion from the moment the embryonic heartbeat is detected, and does not offer an exception for the circumstances of a child’s conception (rape or incest). The two other new laws are HB 1102 — which classifies abortion as “unprofessional conduct” and any abortionist committing a medically unnecessary abortion will lose his or her license to practice for one year — and HB 1904, which requires that only board-certified OB/GYNs may commit abortions. One bill passed by the Legislature, SB 778, which would require the abortion pill to be dispensed only in person (according to longstanding FDA safety measures), still awaits the governor’s signature.

The bills would have gone into effect in November 2021, with or without the governor’s signature.

In Idaho, Governor Brad Little signed HB 366, the Fetal Heartbeat Preborn Child Protection Act, into law on Tuesday. According to a tweet sent out by the governor’s office, the bill contains exceptions for medical emergencies and for children conceived in rape or incest.

https://www.liveaction.org

Idaho Police Arrest 3 at Outdoor Church Worship Event in Defiance of Mask Mandate

Ezra Dulis – September 20, 2020

Police in Moscow, Idaho, arrested three people Wednesday for violating social distancing rules as their church sang hymns and Bible psalms outdoors — an event held, in part, to protest the city mayor’s mask mandate, which runs to January 2021.

Officers arrested Gabriel Rench, Rachel Bohnet, and Sean Bohnet, according to Moscow Report, a local independent news outlet. A video uploaded to social media shows Bohnet, a local music teacher, and his wife telling officers they refused to comply with an inaudible order. Moscow Report says the apparent infraction is that they refused to show identification.

Update: The Moscow Police Department’s daily activity log lists the reasons for the arrests as “public health emergency order” violations.

Footage of the couple’s arrest shows the church body singing the hymn “Praise God from Whom All Blessings Flow” as officers place them in handcuffs.

Rench is a co-host of Cross Politic, a Christian political talk show, and a candidate for county commissioner. “You guys should not be doing this,” he told officers as they walked him to a squad car. “And doing this kind of crap for the mayor, this is embarrassing. You guys are stronger than this.”

Released that same day, Rench appeared on his talk show to discuss the arrest, playing extended footage of his conversation with officers. One of his companions is heard telling the officers “We backed you guys” at recent Black Lives Matter protests advocating to defund the police. “They didn’t send you [to enforce social distancing] with BLM to go do that when they said defund you guys. We backed you guys.”

“I got booked in jail; I was in jail for about two hours,” he said. “And as they were de-booking me, or whatever they call it, I’m walking out and I go by their office, which is right next to where I’m getting booked out. And there’s three deputies in the officer, and two of them aren’t wearing masks and sitting right next to each other. And I said, ‘hey, should they get arrested?’”

https://www.breitbart.com

Judge Halts Idaho Law Prohibiting Males Who Identify as Females From Competing in Women’s Sports

– August 18, 2020

BOISE, Idaho — A federal judge nominated to the bench by President Obama and renominated under President Trump has placed a halt on an Idaho law that expressly prohibits biological males from competing in women’s sports.

“The court recognizes that this decision is likely to be controversial,” acknowleged Judge David Nye on Monday. “While the citizens of Idaho are likely to either vehemently oppose, or fervently support, the Act, the Constitution must always prevail.”

“[T]he Act on its face discriminates between cisgender athletes, who may compete on athletic teams consistent with their gender identity, and transgender women athletes, who may not compete on athletic teams consistent with their gender identity,” he said.

“Hence, while the physiological differences the defendants suggest support the categorical bar on transgender women’s participation in women’s sports may justify the Act, they do not overcome the inescapable conclusion that the Act discriminates on the basis of transgender status.”

As previously reported, in February, Rep. Barbara Ehardt, R-Idaho Falls, proposed the “Fairness in Women’s Sports Act”, House Bill 500, which expressly prohibits biological males from joining women’s athletic teams.

“Athletic teams or sports designated for females, women, or girls shall not be open to students of the male sex,” the legislation reads in part.

It states that puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones do not resolve concerns about fairness, pointing to a 2019 study that concluded that males who ingested the hormones over a 12-month period still “had an absolute advantage” over their female competitors.

https://christiannews.net

Federal Judge Overrules Idaho Law that Birth Certificates Conform to Biological Sex

Penny Starr – June 5, 2020

Lawmakers in Idaho last year passed the Idaho Vital Statistics Act, which does not allow people to change the sex identification on their birth certificate just because they “identify” as something other than their biological sex.

Those who want to change their gender on their birth certificate because they are “transgender” or have some other “sexual orientation” had already been able to do so because of a 2018 ruling by federal Magistrate Judge Candy Dale, who said it was unconstitutional to deny such changes.

The Idaho State Journal reported on the judge’s latest decision:

Shortly after the bill took effect Lambda Legal, which represented the plaintiffs in the 2018 F.V. v. Barron case, filed a motion asking Dale to clarify whether her 2018 injunction still applies. She ruled on Monday that it does and that the passage of House Bill 509 doesn’t change that.

“The Court clarifies that the plain language and objective of the Order and Judgment entered in this case permanently enjoin (the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare) from infringing on the constitutional rights of transgender individuals by automatically rejecting applications to change the sex listed on their birth certificates to match their gender identity,” Dale wrote. “The Injunction requires IDHW to institute a meaningful and constitutionally-sound process for accepting, reviewing, and considering applications from transgender individuals to amend the gender listed on their birth certificates.”

The judge did not rule on the constitutionality of House Bill 509 or grant Lambda Legal’s effort to block enforcement of the law.

“While serious and formidable questions exist over the constitutionality of HB 509, whether HB 509 can pass constitutional muster is not yet before the Court and not decided here,” Dale wrote. “Likewise, whether enforcement of HB 509 violates the Injunction is not ripe.”

https://www.breitbart.com