IDAHO — A second bill, proposed in the Idaho House of Representatives, looks to change how the state refers to the unborn in Idaho.
House Bill 400 (H0400) would change the terms “embryo or fetus” and “stillborn fetus” to “preborn child” and “stillborn child," in official statute language.
Related: H0381 Seeks to replace the word "fetus" with "preborn child"
House Bill 400 is similar to House Bill 381, but is updated to also redesignate the term "embryo."
Additionally, H0400 defines "preborn child" as, "the developing human life from fertilization until birth."
The House State Affairs committee heard a significant amount of public comment on Monday.
In support, David Ripley, Executive Director with Idaho Chooses Life testified in part, "it's always been an article of faith for me in this work to use that language, because I think it makes it clear that we are trying to affirm the humanity of that baby in the womb."
Dr. Cristin Slater, a board certified Reproductive Endocrinologist also testified. At the start of the testimony, Dr. Slater told the committee she was there to educate, but later expressed concern about the possible impact on access to health care.
"If legislation is going to make law, I want law to be accurate and follow medical terminology. If this is going to affect people, I want it to be accurate. And I do worry, honestly, that this is going to affect access to women's care and health care in Idaho. I do worry that it will potentially have a significant negative access to care," testified Dr. Slater.
In response to the bill, Mistie DelliCarpini-Tolman, Executive Director of Planned Parenthood Alliance Advocates wrote in part, "claiming that a change in legal and medical terminology in our statute when it comes to abortion is ‘policy neutral’ is plainly a lie and offensive to the intelligence of Idahoans."
The bill was not voted out of committee on Monday. Lawmakers did not state when the bill would be discussed further.
