Supporters Call on Idaho Lawmakers to Override Governor’s Veto of Bill Prohibiting Medical Mandates
Source: Children’s Health Defense
Idaho Gov. Brad Little on Saturday vetoed a bill passed by Idaho lawmakers that would have prohibited nearly all medical mandates in the state.
The Idaho Medical Freedom Act was meant to “protect the rights of Idahoans to make their own medical choices free of the fear of losing their jobs or being excluded from normal daily life,” according to the bill’s author, Leslie Manookian, president and founder of the Health Freedom Defense Fund.
The bill, cosponsored by Sen. Daniel Foreman and Rep. Robert Beiswenger, would have prohibited businesses and Idaho local, county and state governments from requiring medical interventions for employment, admission to venues, transportation, or providing products or services.
It also would have blocked schools and colleges in the state from requiring medical interventions for school attendance or entry into campus buildings.
The Idaho House of Representatives passed the bill March 19 in a 47-23 vote, after the Senate voted 19-14 on Feb. 26 in favor of the legislation.
Little vetoed the bill Saturday morning, an hour before the deadline. “Medical freedom is an Idaho value,” Little wrote in a letter explaining his veto, but he said the bill would have jeopardized “the ability of schools to send home sick students with highly contagious conditions.”
Little listed medical freedom measures he had supported in the past but said parents “do not need government imposing more limitations on keeping children safe and healthy from contagious illnesses at school.”
Manookian told The Defender that Little’s claim is “an absolute fabrication” because nothing in the bill changes existing pertinent rules or codes that allow schools to exclude children if they are sick.
“Little is hiding behind a lie,” she added. If a child is sick, “a school has every right to send them home,” she said. They just wouldn’t be able to dictate to the parents how that illness should be treated — they couldn’t force the child to take a test, wear a mask or take a drug.
Idahoans call for legislators to override the veto
Medical freedom activists in Idaho expressed outrage and quickly launched a campaign to encourage legislators to override the veto.
Governor Little vetoed Senate Bill 1023, which would have prohibited vaccine mandates and given us precious medical freedoms.
Tell your representatives to OVERRIDE his veto and defend against medical tyranny by clicking HERE: https://t.co/pEhgmWHN5L pic.twitter.com/VqwG0GirAn
— Idaho Freedom Action (@FreedomActionID) March 29, 2025
“Governor Little shows, once again, how out of touch he is with Idaho families,” Idaho Freedom Foundation (IFF) and Idaho Freedom Action (IFA) President Ronald M. Nate said in a statement, adding:
“After kowtowing to Big Medical special interests during the COVID pandemic, we are not particularly surprised by his decision. However, we at the IFF and IFA know Idaho should be a beacon for freedom in all parts of our lives, including and especially medical freedom. It’s clear our governor does not share our state’s values, only the values of the highest bidder. …
“It’s time for the Legislature to stand up against medical tyranny and do what’s right for the people of Idaho: OVERRIDE LITTLE’S VETO!!”
Former Idaho Sen. Scott Herndon posted on X that, “During Covid, @GovernorLittle made it a crime to go to church or to have your large family over for Thanksgiving. Today he vetoed the Idaho Medical Freedom Act which banned medical mandates. He is WRONG. S1023 got 19 Senate votes and needs 24 to override the veto.”
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In a scathing open letter to Idaho state senators, Manookian implored the senators to override the veto, saying that Little vetoed the bill in a bid to hold onto the unprecedented powers bestowed by the COVID-19 pandemic.
She said in 2020 she saw Little and colleagues sit unmasked in an SUV for hours. They exited the car and “hypocritically donned masks for a photo op” and then went to an unmasked fundraiser with a hundred guests — his behavior “told a very different story from his public message,” she wrote.
As a result of Little’s actions during the pandemic, Manookian wrote, many people were injured or killed, “businesses were shuttered, Idahoans were arrested for worshiping, lost their jobs and were refused entry to businesses. Teenagers — facing isolation and despair — took their own lives.”
Manookian told The Defender that Little refused to discuss the bill with its sponsors before signing the veto. He reportedly didn’t even go into the office for several days. “If he was acting in good faith, he would have communicated with the bill’s sponsors to discuss his concern.”
“There can be only one explanation for this behavior — he wants to preserve his power to do it all over again,” she wrote.
Pathologist and Idaho resident Dr. Ryan Cole promised in a March 20 video posted on X to run against Little in the next primary election if the governor vetoes the bill. Cole is an outspoken critic of COVID-19 vaccines and mandates.
In the video, Cole said, “Governor Little, do the right thing. You have the opportunity to set an example for our nation … If you choose to veto the bill, this will be the end of your political career.”
Cole did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Related articles in The Defender
- Idaho Bill Would Prohibit Vaccine and Medical Mandates — Will the Governor Sign It?
- Idaho Health Board First in U.S. to Defy CDC and FDA by Removing COVID Vaccines From Clinics
- Exclusive: Idaho Man Paralyzed 10 Days After Getting J&J COVID Vaccine
- ‘This Is a Winnable Battle’: Experts Explain How Citizens Can Work With Local Health Authorities to Get COVID Vaccines Removed
