Medical students are speaking out against Idaho bill to ban gender-affirming care | Opinion

House Bill 71 recently passed the Idaho House with overwhelming support and was passed by the Idaho Senate with amendments that now go back to the House for concurrence. If passed, the law would criminalize the provision of gender-affirming care for anyone under the age of 18 in Idaho. Specifically, the bill would subject physicians to felony charges if they provide puberty blockers, hormone treatment or gender-affirming surgery to transgender individuals under 18.

The reality is HB 71 will cause harm by denying youth access to life-saving evidence-based medicine. At this point, every major medical organization, including the American Medical Association, American Academy of Pediatrics and American Psychiatric Association, supports gender-affirming care for youth.

If every relevant medical organization in this country recognizes the importance of providing gender-affirming care to youth, why does the Idaho Legislature contradict years of research by medical experts?

Suicide is the third-leading cause of death among all adolescents, and the rates of both suicide attempts and suicidal thoughts disproportionately affect transgender adolescents. Data indicates that 82% of transgender individuals have considered suicide, and 40% have attempted suicide, with rates of suicidality being highest among adolescents. Access to gender-affirming care is a critical part of improving these statistics, as studies show that pubertal suppression for transgender adolescents interested in treatment is associated with favorable mental health outcomes.

This bill marks a concerning turn in this state toward limiting the rights of Idahoans to make medical decisions and allocating that power and responsibility to politicians. Decisions regarding life-saving evidence-based medical care should not rest in the hands of legislators lacking medical education and proximity to the needs of transgender youth. Rather, these decisions should be made privately among the patient, their health care provider and their family.

As medical students in Idaho, state lawmakers have created a challenging decision for us when evaluating where to practice. We want to honor our Idaho roots and return to practice in this state, as we know Idaho is in desperate need of physicians. In fact, as of 2020, Idaho had the lowest number of physicians per capita, according to the American Association of Medical Colleges Idaho Physician Workforce Profile.

However, we also must honor our oath to do no harm in our practice. The reality is that this law, if passed, will prevent us from keeping that oath by barring us from providing care we know is necessary and will impact our decision on where to practice in the future.

Less than a year ago, a classmate took action by writing a similar op-ed addressing the near-total abortion ban in Idaho. That law takes away the medical freedom of the people of Idaho, just as HB 71 would.

Just this week, a hospital in North Idaho announced that it would no longer provide certain obstetric services, citing the political climate in the state. Physicians choosing to practice in other states because of oppressive state laws is no longer hypothetical — it is a harsh reality that the state of Idaho is not well-positioned to handle.

HB 71 will continue to worsen the problem many rural counties in Idaho are facing: dangerous physician shortages.

In addition to the authors of this article, 51 of our classmates have voiced their opposition to HB71. With that, we have three requests.

First, we ask the people of Idaho to voice your opposition to this bill. Write to or call your legislators and Gov. Brad Little and share this message with others who may be unaware of this bill.

Second, we ask the lawmakers of Idaho to please vote NO on this bill.

Third, if the bill passes, we ask Gov. Little to veto it.

Medical decision-making must be kept in the hands of patients, families and providers. Regardless of your views on gender-affirming care, consider this issue a matter of medical freedom. This bill would rob Idaho citizens and physicians of their autonomy, and it is your duty as lawmakers and voters to prevent that. Please choose to stand on the side of freedom and vote in opposition to HB 71.

Ari Garabedian, Ian Holland, Marisabel Reinhardt, and Sara Meotti are first- and second-year medical students at the University of Washington in the Idaho WWAMI regional program located in Moscow, Idaho. Together, they lead a service-learning advocacy group for the Idaho WWAMI program that advocates for health care equity in the state of Idaho.