East Idaho Times

U.S. Senators Jim Risch and Roger Marshall have introduced the End Taxpayer Funding of Gender Experimentation Act, aiming to prevent federal funding for gender transition procedures. The proposed legislation also seeks to prohibit federal healthcare facilities and personnel from providing these services.

The bill is designed to solidify aspects of an executive order from former President Donald Trump, which intended to protect minors by restricting the use of federal funds for gender transition procedures on young individuals.

"Idaho taxpayers should not be forced to support radical medical procedures that can cause severe damage to our children and teens," stated Senator Risch. He described the bill as "commonsense legislation" aimed at safeguarding young people from what he views as harmful procedures.

Senator Marshall echoed this sentiment, saying, "After years of radical gender ideology under the Biden Administration, it’s time for a return to common sense." He highlighted public opinion statistics, noting that "Sixty percent of Americans say sex is assigned at birth, and seventy-two percent think it should be illegal for doctors to perform gender transition procedures on minors."

In addition to Risch and Marshall, the bill has garnered support from several other Republican senators including Lindsey Graham, Kevin Cramer, Tim Sheehy, Cynthia Lummis, Mike Lee, Ted Budd, Josh Hawley, Marsha Blackburn, Roger Wicker, Jim Banks, and Cindy Hyde-Smith.

From 2016 to 2021, approximately $15 million was spent by the U.S. Department of Defense on gender transition procedures for 1,892 service members. Meanwhile, Medicaid policies in twenty-five states and Washington D.C. explicitly cover transgender-related healthcare. Over 276,000 transgender adults enrolled in Medicaid may be affected by such policy changes.

The proposed restrictions do not apply to individuals with medically verifiable disorders of sex development.