BOISE — The House and Senate Health and Welfare committees voted Wednesday to reject the administrative rule outlining a procedure to let transgender people change their genders on their birth certificates.

The effect of this action is unclear at the moment, and much also depends on two bills that may or may not come for a hearing sometime soon, as lawmakers scramble to wrap up business and adjourn for the year sometime in the next few weeks. Idaho has been under federal court order to let transgender people change their birth certificates since spring 2018. Republican senators who supported rejecting the rule said it wouldn’t matter anyway since the state Department of Health and Welfare would still have to follow the court order.

“That means we’re somewhat impotent,” said committee Chairman Fred Martin, R-Boise. “I don’t like that feeling at all. I consider myself quite virile, but I feel somewhat impotent.”

The rejection of the rule will, barring further developments, take effect when lawmakers pass a resolution adopting all of the year’s administrative rules, which usually happens a little before the end of the session.

“If that portion is removed from the vital statistics chapter, we will need to continue processing these applications, but we won’t have any standards by which to measure those changes, so that would put us at a legal risk,” said Elke Shaw-Tulloch, administrator of DHW’s Bureau of Vital Records and Health Statistics.

Kathy Griesmyer, policy director for the American Civil Liberties Union of Idaho, said the ACLU and Lambda Legal, the gay and transgender rights legal organization that won the 2018 lawsuit, would keep a close eye on any further developments. She said the current process is working and is similar to that used in many other states. Without a rule, Griesmyer said, DHW staff will not have guidance on the process to follow, which could lead to the state violating the court order if people aren’t able to change their birth certificates as a result.

“They have not proven the current process is not working,” she said.

Both of the Democrats on the Senate committee and Martin voted for a motion that failed to accept the entire vital statistics administrative rule chapter, which as well as letting transgender people change their birth statistics contains numerous other regulations regarding birth and death certificates and other vital records.

“Any vote other than for the motion (to accept the entire chapter) is in direct violation of a court order,” said Sen. Maryanne Jordan, D-Boise.

After that failed, the panel passed a motion accepting the chapter except for the birth certificate change section. Both the relevant House and Senate committees need to reject a rule, so now that both have, the rule will be stricken provided the Legislature concurs in its year-end rules resolution.

Wednesday’s action may not be the last word on the issue. A bill sponsored by Rep. Julianne Young, R-Blackfoot, passed the House last week to ban almost any changes to a birth certificate after a year, which would seem to violate the court order by blocking transgender people from changing their birth certificates. A legal analysis of House Bill 509 from the state Attorney General’s office raised doubts as to whether it would be defensible in court. It has yet to be heard in the Senate.

Martin introduced another bill on Monday that would let transgender adults change their birth certificates by following the existing procedure but would require a doctor’s signoff for minors. Martin’s bill would effectively restore what was in place for much of last year, when an administrative rule requiring a doctor’s approval for minors was in place.

Martin said Wednesday he expects his bill to get a hearing as-is if the Senate doesn’t pass Young’s. If Young’s passes, he said he would amend it to include a trigger mechanism so, if his passes, it would take effect in the likely event the state is sued and enforcement of House Bill 509 is stayed during litigation. Martin said he doesn’t view the current rule, which only requires parental consent for a minor to change his or her birth certificate, as acceptable.

“I believe that minors should have to have a medical attestation,” he said.

Griesmyer said the ACLU is monitoring both bills, especially 509, which she called “a much more blatant attempt to disregard what the court said needs to be done.”

Several people testified at Wednesday’s Senate hearing to urge the committee to adopt the gender change rule.

“It is crucial to have consistent legal documents for employment so as to reduce discrimination and harassment,” said Mone Miller, legal advocate for the Idaho Coalition Against Sexual and Domestic Violence.

Emily Jackson-Edney, a transgender woman, talked about her experiences and about how being able to change her birth certificate and get documents that match her gender identity has let her move through society in relative safety and free of harassment and heightened scrutiny.

“Mr. Chairman, I don’t identify as a woman, I am a woman,” she said. “Contrary to the untruths you may hear, transgender women are women and transgender men are men. Period. Full stop.”