By Karey Hanks
We’re in Week 6 of the 2026 Idaho legislative session, and bills at the Capitol are moving fast. While budget writers debate cuts to close a projected shortfall, several “cultural” bills are also advancing—issues that touch on identity, safety, medical decisions, and the protection of children.
Is this the right time to prioritize these fights when families are facing rising costs and potential reductions in core services?
Several bills and ongoing debates have sparked strong feelings:
- Laws (H561) on flags flown by government entities (triggered by controversies like Boise’s Pride flag display)
- Protections against biological males in female bathrooms, showers, and locker rooms (H607)
- Ongoing debate addressing medical interventions on minors (often called “gender-affirming care” or “transitioning” of children), including restrictions on puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, and surgeries for those under 18
- House Bill 516 (passed the House this week) requires public schools to adopt policies prohibiting classroom instruction on sexual orientation or gender identity from kindergarten through grade 12; also continuing efforts to monitor and restrict sexually explicit materials available to minors in libraries—a battle that began a few years ago and reminds us how vital it is to protect our children in this increasingly immoral culture
- House Bill 528 (also passed the House) protects patient autonomy by allowing individuals to provide their own blood or a directed donor’s blood for transfusions, with exceptions for safety, time, or emergencies. It reinforces individual medical freedom and personal choice in healthcare decisions.
Additionally, several bills this session address immigration-related policies, including limits or conditions on non-emergency benefits and services for illegal aliens. One key measure (HB 135) passed last year, ending taxpayer funding for certain non-emergency benefits; related proposals, including e-verify and allowing local law enforcement agencies to enforce federal immigration laws (H659), remain active.
Common sense isn’t so common anymore. Bills like H516, H528, and others are addressing issues that just a few years ago would have seemed unthinkable or unnecessary to even debate. What once felt like basic, shared understanding—protecting children’s innocence, respecting biological reality, and preserving personal medical choice—is now up for legislative action because those basics are under attack.
John Adams warned us long ago:
Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.
Benjamin Franklin put it even more bluntly:
Only a virtuous people are capable of freedom. As nations become more corrupt and vicious, they have more need of masters.
Both men understood that no document—no matter how well written—can hold a society together if its people lose their moral compass.
The breakdown we’re seeing isn’t just in Boise or the legislature. It’s in the erosion of traditional families, the rise of propaganda and divisive media, and leaving God out of the equation in our lives.
We can’t fix everything from the Statehouse, but we can pray for those making decisions, stay informed, and engage respectfully. Call your legislators. Attend or watch hearings. Write letters. Show up.
Our children and grandchildren are counting on us to preserve the values that made Idaho strong—not just in law, but in character.
Let’s keep the conversation going. What issues matter most to you right now?
About Karey Hanks
Karey Hanks is a Christian, patriot, mother of seven, grandmother of eighteen, and a two-term Idaho state legislator. She is currently a candidate for Idaho House of Representatives in District 31.
