Texas legislature bans gender-affirming look after minors

The Texas legislature handed a invoice on Wednesday banning medical doctors within the state from offering gender-affirming care to minors.

The legislationwhich subsequent heads to Gov. Greg Abbott’s (R) desk, would prohibit well being care suppliers from prescribing hormones and puberty blockers to minors or performing quite a lot of surgical procedures with the aim of aiding their transition.

Whereas the invoice gives an exception for youngsters presently on hormones or puberty blockers, it requires that they “wean off” the medication “in a fashion that’s protected and medically acceptable.”

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) on Friday slammed the Texas Home for advancing the invoice to dam “evidence-based, life-saving well being care” for transgender adolescents.

“This can be a darkish day in Texas,” Ash Corridor, a coverage and advocacy strategist on the ACLU of Texas, stated in an announcement. “Our legislature has turned its again on science, dad and mom, and the security and lives of youngsters. Our hearts break for transgender younger folks in our state who’ve repeatedly been attacked by their very own authorities for callous political achieve.”

The invoice follows an effort by Abbott final 12 months to have state businesses examine dad and mom who supplied their kids with gender-affirming care of kid abuse.

With the governor extensively anticipated to signal the laws, Texas would be part of 16 different states — together with Montana, Idaho, Utah, Arizona, North Dakota, South Dakota, Oklahoma, Iowa, Arkansas, Indiana, Kentucky, West Virginia, Tennessee, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida — which have already banned such look after transgender youths.

Georgia has additionally banned most gender-affirming care, whereas the Missouri legislature handed an analogous invoice final week that’s awaiting signature.