From the Editor: Several weeks ago, Joe Biden’s Surgeon General, Vivek Murthy, warned that adolescents participating on social media can have a distorted sense of self during their crucial development years. He advocated that adolescents not participate on social media because allowing them there is a “disservice” to children.
Does anyone really think that Joe Biden’s Surgeon General holds a conservative point of view?
If “progressive” / left-wing officials think adolescents are too young to realize the impact of their choices on social media platforms, what makes anyone think children can realize the impact of making permanent changes to their physical bodies that will forever change everything they think, feel, and do for the rest of their lives?
We strongly recommend Idahoans read and consider Dorothy Moon’s words here.
The views and opinions expressed by contributors to True Idaho News do not necessarily reflect those of Shadowtrail Media, LLC, its founders, or owners.
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Op-Ed by Dorothy Moon
Recently, several Idaho legislators introduced bills that would protect Idaho children from adults bent on using our children as vehicles for a radical gender ideology.
Gender dysphoria is a controversial mental health condition that has seen a recent spike in diagnoses. While there are many contributors to this spike, some experts believe that growing levels of childhood and adolescent depression are contributing to this spike.
Whatever its cause, Idaho’s legislators are right to craft legislation that protects minors from irreversible surgeries or hormone treatments that can lead to infertility, anatomical mutilation, and increased rates of suicidal ideation.
Unfortunately, our legislators’ efforts are facing an onslaught of special interest groups funded by, and supportive of, the radical Left.
One such group, Idaho Children Are Primary, has lobbied the Idaho Legislature through direct communication to oppose efforts to protect Idaho’s children.
Idaho Children Are Primary claims to be a bipartisan nonprofit, and yet their list of policy positions mirror those of the Biden Administration:
- Advocacy for the continued use of Federal COVID monies here in Idaho
- Adoption of so-called Social Emotional Learning curriculum in Idaho schools
- Support for taxpayer-funded sex reassignment surgeries for children
Idaho Children Are Primary is like a lot of third-party advocacy groups operating in our state:
- They have a noble mission
- Many esteemed or respected community members on their board or staff
- They claim a mantle of policy neutrality or “bipartisanship”
Also, like many other lobbying groups, their advocacy and efforts to guide the direction of legislation and policy largely operate outside of the public eye. With politically connected board members and donors, groups like Idaho Children Are Primary can kill legislation with just a few phone calls or well-placed emails.
Part of the job of a political party is to remind citizens of the principles at stake in any policy discussion. For example, with regard to sex reassignment surgery, a question must be asked:
Should children be allowed — encouraged even — to engage in life-altering activities, including medical procedures, before they are capable of understanding the full implications of their choices?
To have a full-throated debate about the real cost of certain policies we need advocacy groups to stop claiming neutrality and instead make plain what outcomes they really want to see established in our law.
Any interested Idahoan can visit our state party’s website at idgop.org and learn, in plain English, what our party stands for and what principles animate and inform our policy positions.
We should expect the same transparency and fair dealing from groups like Idaho Children Are Primary.
Dorothy Moon is Chair of the Idaho Republican Party. She served three terms in the Idaho Legislature as State Representative for District 8. Moon’s career in public service has focused on the advancement of individual liberties and reducing the size and scope of government.
The views and opinions expressed by contributors to True Idaho News do not necessarily reflect those of Shadowtrail Media, LLC, its founders, or owners.
