BOISE, Idaho — A bill was introduced in the House State Affairs Committee on Thursday, Feb. 8, which aims to add language to Idaho's cannibalism law, which already outlaws "any person who willfully ingests the flesh or blood of a human being."
House Bill 522, titled "cannibalism," was written and introduced by Republican Representative Heather Scott. The bill aims to expand the definition of cannibalism to include the provision of human flesh or blood to others, specifically, "providing flesh or blood to another human being without their knowledge or consent."
Back in the late 1980s, there was a scare about satanic rituals and investigations nicknamed the "satanic panic." In 1990, cannibalism in Idaho was outlawed with the passing of the bill titled "Mayhem."
After Representative Scott introduced the bill on Thursday at the podium, she stated two reasons for the creation of the bill.
Firstly, she said, "In 2019, I heard that Washington state was starting to do human composting, and that disturbed me. I wanted to address this because what I didn't want to see was bags of compost with human bone fragments."
Human composting is a permitted practice in several states, including Washington, but the remains are not bagged. A quick Google search shows that they're being spread in a forest outside Battle Ground, Washington, to help recover the area from logging, according to Recompose Life's website.
Representative Scott said she wants to stop human composting from getting into the food supply.
Recompose Life's website states that human compost is spread around in several spots to support plant life but is not used for food production.
Representative Scott's second reasoning for the bill is due to a video she saw posted on social media a month ago about a food show that said the secret ingredient was human flesh. But it was revealed to the food contestants that it was a part of a prank show by David Spade called "Fameless."
KTVB reached out to Representative Scott, but she refused to comment.
House Bill 522 was printed, and the verdict is out on whether or not it will get a public hearing.
Join 'The 208' conversation:
- Text us at (208) 321-5614
- E-mail us at the208@ktvb.com
- Join our The 208 Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/the208KTVB/
- Follow us on Twitter: @the208KTVB or tweet #the208 and #SoIdaho
- Follow us on Instagram: @the208KTVB
- Bookmark our landing page: /the-208
- Still reading this list? We're on YouTube, too:
HERE ARE MORE WAYS TO GET NEWS FROM KTVB:
Download the KTVB News Mobile App
Apple iOS: Click here to download
Google Play: Click here to download
Watch news reports for FREE on YouTube: KTVB YouTube channel
Stream Live for FREE on ROKU: Add the channel from the ROKU store or by searching 'KTVB'.
Stream Live for FREE on FIRE TV: Search ‘KTVB’ and click ‘Get’ to download.