Story at a glance
- A host of anti-LGBTQ+ bills have been proposed across the country this year by Republican lawmakers.
- Many of the bills include strict rules that would prohibit the administering of medication and surgery to trans minors.
- Doctors who continue to administer medication, such as puberty blockers, to trans minors would be subject to jail time, according to some of the proposed bills.
- Democrats, the LGBTQ+ community and medical professionals are rallying against the bills with some initial success.
Republican lawmakers in at least eight states, including South Carolina, Georgia and Kentucky, have recently introduced proposals that would severely punish doctors and other medical professionals who provide puberty-suppressing drugs, cross-sex hormones and transition-related surgery to adolescents.
In some cases, doctors who provide transgender minors with care could be sent to jail, and bills currently being debated in Missouri and New Hampshire would classify gender-affirming care as “child abuse.”
At least 25 anti-LGBTQ bills have been introduced across the country this year, according to the ACLU. At least a handful of those bills attempt to outlaw gender-affirming health care for minors by criminalizing doctors and, in some cases, parents who consent to such procedures.
Proponents of the bills say they protect children from what they’re calling “medical experimentation,” in some cases comparing doctors who provide gender-affirming care to Nazis.
During Wednesday’s floor debate in South Dakota, one Republican representative said such procedures would some day be considered as dangerous and pseudoscientific as lobotomies, according to Mother Jones. “We’re talking about cutting off little girls’ breasts,” said Rep. Jon Hansen (R), a freshman lawmaker.
Libertarians, Democrats, transgender people and the medical community have begun to rally against the proposed bills, providing moving testimonies in court and raising the alarm about the dangers of cutting off care to trans children. An open letter opposing the bills has now been signed by more than 200 medical professionals from the South representing a wide variety of health care professionals, from mental health counselors and pharmacists to nurse practitioners, surgeons, speech pathologists and dentists.
“These bills run counter to the growing consensus in the medical community that improving access to gender-affirming care is a central means of improving health outcomes for transgender people,” stated the letter, which was coordinated by the advocacy group Campaign for Southern Equality.
“Many credible studies of trans youth populations have demonstrated that gender-affirming care is linked to significantly reduced rates of depression, anxiety, substance abuse and suicide attempts,” the letter continued. “Gender-affirming care reduces reliance on self-prescribed and self-administered hormone use, which can be dangerous without the oversight of a physician. To put it plainly, gender-affirming care saves lives and allows trans young people to thrive.”
It is relatively uncommon for teenagers to undergo gender-affirming surgery — such as mastectomies for transgender boys — as most medical professionals advise waiting until adulthood for permanent procedures. The bills in question would therefore affect far more children and teenagers who are prescribed puberty blockers, injections or implants that are commonly administered to children who are experiencing gender dysphoria, allowing them to press the pause button on puberty until they’re better able to decide whether to go through with more serious procedures.
Medical professionals who treat transgender youth have said that medication for those with gender dysphoria, such as puberty blockers, could be lifesaving as they aid in diminishing anxiety, depression and suicidal behavior.
“They’re not using actual evidence,” said Alexis Chávez to The New York Times, a psychiatrist who is the medical director for the Trevor Project, a national organization focused on preventing suicide among lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender youths. “They’re not using the research. They’re not listening to any health care providers. And they’re advancing something that’s very dangerous to make a statement.”
Advocates for squashing the bills believe there might be reason to maintain hope in the South, following a promising decision recently made on a bill in Florida that similarly would have subjected doctors to a felony charge for providing transgender care to minors. The bill was effectively killed on Monday.
“A very brave group of trans youth, their families and providers testified at the hearing and were present there,” says Jasmine Beach-Ferrara to NBC News, executive director of the Campaign for Southern Equality. “We see what happens when people get to hear the actual stories of real people and understand what’s at stake.”
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