Sex ed Rights

• Idaho law does not require sexuality education. Local school boards decide to provide sex ed, which subjects this education must cover and the grade level in which topics are introduced.
• School boards must also “include parents and community groups in all aspects of instituting and evaluating sexuality education programs.”
• Idaho law states that the “primary responsibility of family life and sex education” rests with a student’s home and church.
• If a school board decides to institute sex education, the program must give students “the scientific, psychological information for understanding sex and its relation to the miracle of life.” It must also include “knowledge of the power of the sex drive and the necessity of controlling that drive by self-discipline.” There is no standard on medically accurate sex education, but the Idaho Department of Education’s health education standards do state that growth, development, and family life instruction should be medically accurate.
• Parents or guardians may request to excuse their child or children from sex education by filing a written request to the school board, the “opt-out” policy. The school board provides the forms to remove the child from the sex education classes.

HIV/AIDS and Other STIs Education

• The Idaho Department of Education requires schools that offer sex education to encourage “abstinence from sexual activity” for STI prevention (including HIV) by grade 12.
• Curriculum is not required to include instruction on sexual orientation or gender identity and is not required to include instruction on consent.
• If you want your school to offer a comprehensive sexuality education class in your school, you can learn more at SIECUS. You can make a difference!

Age of Minority

17

• The age when someone is no longer considered a minor in Idaho, as in most states, is 18. Therefore, you are legally considered an adult at age 18. Being a minor (under 18) affects your right to information and services. To learn more, read on!

Age of Consent

18

• Legally, people can’t consent (or agree) to sex (with someone who is considered an adult) until they reach a specific age. This is called the “age of consent.” These laws are meant to protect minors from being manipulated or forced into sex with older people.
• The age of consent in Idaho is 18.
• Idaho statutory rape law is violated when a person has consensual sexual intercourse with an individual under age 18. No close in age exemptions exist, but the severity of the charge can depend on the age difference between victim and offender.
• Idaho does not have a close-in-age exemption.

LGBTQ Rights

• Public schools in Idaho have no laws in effect that include protections of LGBTQ+ students against bullying, harassment or discrimination.
• There are statewide anti-discrimination and anti-bullying laws, but they do not clearly include protections for sexual orientation or gender identity. State hate crimes laws also do not include protections for sexual orientation or gender identity.
• If discrimination, harassment or a hate crime happens to you or someone you know, please call the Gay and Lesbian National Hotline at 1-888-THE-GLNH (843-4564) for help and support, or check out Lambda Legal. No one deserves harassment!

HIV / AIDS Testing

• Minors aged 14 and up don’t need permission from a parent or guardian to get tested for sexually transmitted infections (STIs), including HIV, in Idaho. These minors may consent to both testing and treatment.
• Health care providers may—but are not required to—inform a teen’s parent(s) about sexually transmitted infection services provided, so it’s important to ask the people where you’re getting tested about confidentiality.
• For your privacy, it’s helpful to ask questions about confidentiality when you call to make your appointment. Specifically ask, “If I make an appointment and receive any kind of services at your clinic, will you tell my parents or anyone else?”
• Idaho offers both anonymous and confidential HIV testing. This means that if you get tested for HIV, you can choose to either have your results confidentially reported to the health department using your name, or have your results anonymously reported to the health department using a number code, not your name.
• Find an HIV testing site in your area here or call the Centers for Disease Control’s 24-hour National AIDS Hotline at 1-800-CDC-INFO (232-4636).

Condoms

• People of any age, including teens, can buy condoms from a drugstore, pharmacy, grocery store or even online. A 12-pack of condoms costs about $9-12. Internal or female condoms are about $2-4 per condom. Many grocery stores and pharmacies don’t carry internal/female condoms, but they can be found online, at Planned Parenthood, at family planning clinics and by prescription.
• You can get condoms for free or at a reduced cost from health clinics (like Planned Parenthood), HIV testing centers and local health departments. Call 1-800-230-PLAN (7526) for the nearest Planned Parenthood.
• Always check the expiration date on condoms to make sure that the condoms haven’t expired yet. For information on how to use a condom correctly, check out this FAQ. Learn all about internal/female condoms on Sexetc.org.
• It is not explicitly stated in any statute whether or not minors have access to PrEP/PEP without parental consent. It is best to contact your doctor or local clinic for more information in your county.
• In Idaho, minors of any age do not need their parent’s consent to receive all healthcare services, including vaccinations. This is called a “mature minor doctrine” and essentially means that if you talk to your doctor/healthcare provider and they decide you are “mature enough” to make your own health care decisions, you can.

Birth Control

• In Idaho, minors (those under 18) are allowed to get contraception without a parent’s permission.
• Clinics called “Title X clinics”—pronounced “title ten”—provide sexual and reproductive health care to both teens and adults. Title X clinics offer many services, including prescriptions for the Pill, pregnancy option counseling and testing for pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases and infections, including HIV.
• These clinics charge on what’s called a sliding-scale fee basis, which means they help you pay what you can afford, and you can pay in cash. If you pay for your visit by using your family’s health insurance, then your parents are likely to see the bill when it arrives in the mail.
• Use this tool to find a Title X clinic near you:
• Or call 1-800-230-PLAN (7526) for the nearest Planned Parenthood.
• When you make an appointment for health care, ask about confidentiality rules. When you call, ask:
  • Can I get services at your office without my parents’ permission?
  • Can my parent/s have access to my records?
  • Will my parent/s see the bill?
• It is your right to get sexual and reproductive health care where you feel safe and comfortable, so don’t worry about asking these questions.

Abortion Access

• Abortion is totally banned in Idaho unless the pregnant person’s life is at risk or in the case of incest or rape. In these cases, the physician has to provide an “affirmative defense” in course proving that the abortion met one of these criteria requiring a legal exception.
• There is a 24-hour mandatory waiting period in Idaho before someone can get an abortion.
• Idaho provides Medicaid (health care) coverage for some abortions: in cases of rape, incest and life endangerment.
• If you are in Idaho, under 18 years old and want an abortion, one parent must give permission before you can get one. If that’s not possible, you are able to ask a judge for permission to go ahead with the abortion without notifying your parents. This is called “judicial bypass.”
• Private health insurance coverage for an abortion is banned except in very limited cases.
• If you need help paying for an abortion, call the National Abortion Federation Hotline at 1-800-772-9100, Monday–Friday, 7 a.m. to 11 p.m.; Saturday–Sunday, 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. (Eastern Daylight Time). The hotline can tell you where and how to get financial help for an abortion in the U.S.

Adoption

• To learn about adoption, visit the National Council for Adoption.

Pregnancy

• You do not need a prescription from a doctor or health care provider to get a pregnancy test. You can purchase a pregnancy test from a pharmacy, grocery store or online. They cost between $10-18. You can also take a pregnancy test at a doctor’s office or clinic, like Planned Parenthood. Many clinics offer free or reduced-cost pregnancy tests.
• All visits to clinics known as Title X (ten) clinics are confidential for teens and adults.
• Use this tool to find a Title X clinic near you:
• Or call 1-800-230-PLAN (7526) for the nearest Planned Parenthood.
• If you pay for your visit by using your family’s health insurance, your parents are likely to see the details of your visit when the bill arrives. Almost all clinics provide free or reduced-cost services to teens to make it easier to afford services.
• Beware of so-called crisis pregnancy centers (CPCs). These centers claim to give you complete and accurate information about your pregnancy options when they actually want to discourage you from getting an abortion. They offer misleading and medically inaccurate information about abortion. Common names of these centers are “Crisis Pregnancy Center,” “Pregnancy Aid,” “Birth Right,” “Open Door” or “Pregnancy Counseling Center.” They are often set up near clinics and Planned Parenthood locations in order to confuse patients to accidentally enter the CPC instead.

Emergency Contraception

• There are several types—or “brands”—of emergency contraception, sometimes called EC or the morning after pill.
• People of any age can buy the brand Plan B One Step and its generic versions at a local pharmacy over the counter, which means you can buy EC without a prescription.
• EC sells for between $35 and $60. Prices vary depending on the brand and the pharmacy.
• To find an EC provider, call the Emergency Contraception Hotline at 1-888-NOT-2-LATE (668-2528). They can help you find access to EC if you’re having any trouble at all.
• Idaho does not require emergency rooms to provide information on EC to rape survivors or to provide EC upon request.
• If you have been raped and you want EC, call the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673). Open 24 hours, the hotline will connect you to EC providers near you. For other helpful information, check out the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network’s Web site.

Sexting

• In Idaho, there are some considerations for consensual sexting between teens so that teens are treated as minors regarding sexting. This protects teens from immediately being charged with child pornography if they’re found to possess or have sent or shared sexual images of themselves or another minor. However, it’s important to be aware that sexting of or between minors can still be considered a crime.