In the face of widespread public opposition, a committee of Idaho legislators voted on Monday to put on hold a bill aimed at substituting the terms “embryo” and “fetus” with “preborn child” throughout the state’s law. The move effectively prevented the bill from advancing.
Representative Julianne Young, R-Blackfoot, sponsored House Bill 400, her second attempt this session to replace terms like “embryo,” “fetus,” and “stillborn fetus” with “preborn child” or simply “child.”
During the bill’s public hearing at the Idaho State Capitol in Boise, Young argued, “Every time that we do this, it is from fertilization to birth. The term ‘preborn child’ clearly captures that full span and is more accurate and, I believe, also more clearly expresses the respect and value that the state of Idaho places on the lives of these preborn children.”
However, the bill faced opposition from members of the public, including medical professionals and parents, who urged legislators to reject it. Critics argued that the bill proposed replacing medically accurate terms like “embryo” and “fetus” with the nonmedical term “preborn child” or “child.”
Grace Christensen, an Idaho State University student, emphasized the precision of medical definitions and raised concerns about the cultural connotation and potential legal consequences of using the term “preborn child.”
Numerous testimonies highlighted worries that defining an embryo or fetus as a preborn child could lead to wrongful death lawsuits or manslaughter charges for women experiencing miscarriages or medical providers dealing with non-viable embryos.
Dr. Martha Lund, an obstetrician-gynecologist, expressed concerns about the potential criminalization of pregnancy if the bill passed. She stated, “Any time a mother miscarries, she can potentially be charged with a crime such as manslaughter or abuse of a corpse.”
At the conclusion of Monday’s meeting, the House State Affairs Committee voted to hold the bill in committee, subject to the call of the committee’s chairman, Rep. Brent Crane, R-Nampa. This decision prevented the bill from progressing to the floor of the Idaho House of Representatives for a vote. While committee chairs have significant powers, Crane could potentially bring the bill back for consideration before the Idaho Legislature adjourns, with a nonbinding target date of March 22.
It’s noteworthy that under Idaho’s abortion ban, abortion is illegal in almost all cases, with exceptions only for cases that save the life of the mother or if a rape victim provides a copy of a police report seeking an abortion within the first trimester.