A measure for modifications that would broaden the prohibition on medical mandates by state and local governments as well as private companies was sent by the Idaho Senate State Affairs Committee on Wednesday.
Wide-ranging legislative modifications are permitted by the amending order. Sen. Dan Foreman, a Republican from Moscow, introduced Senate Bill 1023 after state lawmakers on the committee voiced concerns about the bill’s broad definition of medical interventions.
Some were concerned that it would potentially impact the need for hand hygiene.
By requiring companies to bow to the whims of their employees, this measure goes too far. The language is incomprehensible to us. And although it was well-considered, we think there might have been some hurried writing, Alex LaBeau, president of the Idaho Association of Commerce and Industry, told the committee.
An Idaho legislation passed in 2023 that prohibited companies and state and local governments from demanding COVID-19 vaccinations as a condition of employment or to provide goods or services, including entry to venues, would be modified by Foreman’s bill, known as the Idaho Medical Freedom Act.
The bill would expand the prohibition to encompass medical interventions, which it defines as any pharmacological or biological agent or product intended to change or limit the biological functioning of the body, in addition to seeking to extend the ban to schools.
Foreman mentioned his bill only once. Foreman added that Leslie Manookian, the founder and president of the Health Freedom Defense Fund, authored the measure and talked extensively about its necessity.
The government does not grant the right to make one’s own medical decisions. She informed lawmakers that it is an intrinsic, sacrosanct right that is embedded into the very fabric of our constitutional nation. The fact that we have deviated so much from the initial plan that we even need to discuss this today amazes me.
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Several Republican senators on the committee expressed agreement with the bill’s purpose but expressed concern that its wording needed to be improved before agreeing to send it for changes.
Idaho Senate President Pro Tem Kelly Anton, R-Rupert, stated that lawmakers will examine the bill with the business community to see if it can be clarified, adding that these are God-given rights to our personal freedoms.
A motion to transfer the bill to the amending order, where any member can suggest revisions, was approved by all but two senators on the Senate State Affairs Committee.
The proposal was opposed by Idaho Senate Assistant Minority Leader James Ruchti, D-Pocatello, and Committee Chair Jim Guthrie, R-McCammon.
Ruchti, the lone Democrat on the committee, stated during the meeting that the measure appears to be putting us in a race to revive the illnesses that our grandparents fought so hard to eradicate.
Guthrie told the Idaho Capital Sun after the meeting that he would rather have a fresh bill redrafted than have it sent to the amending order.
I agree with the bill’s purpose and some of its underlying assumptions. But occasionally, he told the Sun, “I think there are enough fatal flaws in the bill that trying to fix it in the 14th order is problematic because the 14th order is a very different process.”
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