BOISE, Idaho – The dispute over Idaho’s Vulnerable Child Protection Act ended today, according to Idaho Attorney General Raúl Labrador, who announced that challengers have dismissed their lawsuit against the law.
The dismissed case, Poe v. Labrador, was a challenge against the Vulnerable Child Protection Act, which prohibits medical providers from giving gender-affirming drugs or surgeries to minors.
The act, which was passed as House Bill 71, was signed into law by Idaho Governor Brad Little in 2023 and was challenged the same year by two Idaho families with support from the American Civil Liberties Union, along with other groups.
Initially a federal judge sided with the challengers in Poe v. Labrador and issued a court order preventing Idaho from enforcing the law statewide.
After this, Labrador wrote that he appealed the case to the U.S. Supreme Court. In April 2024, the Supreme Court ruled that the lower court had overstepped. Labrador’s release explains that the Court narrowed the federal court’s injunctions so that it only applied to the family challenging the law, rather than preventing the law from affecting the entire state.
The challengers then dismissed their lawsuit, ending the injunction.
The dismissal of the lawsuit comes after the June 18, 2025 decision by the U.S. Supreme Court in United States v. Skrmetti, which in Tennessee that is similar to Idaho’s.
Idaho’s Vulnerable Child Protection Act makes it a felony for medical professionals to perform surgeries or provide medication that change the physical appearance or affirm the gender identity of a child when the child’s gender identity does not match their biological sex.
There are exceptions in the law for special medical circumstances such as if the medical professional is acting with someone who has just given birth or if the person has a diagnosed sexual development disorder.
Washington currently does not have restrictions on gender affirming care for children.
