The governors of Indiana and Idaho signed bills banning “gender confirmation” services to minors, making those states the latest to restrict health care for transgender people as Republican-led legislatures continue to set limits on LGBTQ+ community gains this year.
Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb signed legislation Wednesday banning transgender youth from accessing transition-assisted medications or surgeries for sex-reassignment surgeries and ordering those currently taking the drugs to stop by the end of the year.
Idaho Gov. Brad Little signed legislation on Tuesday that criminalizes “gender-affirming” care services for minors.
More than a dozen other states are considering bills that would deny transgender youth access to hormonal treatments, puberty delays and transitional surgeries, even with parental consent and doctors’ advice.
Other proposals target the daily lives of transgender individuals – including sports, workplaces and schools.
“Permanent sex reassignment surgeries with lifelong effects must occur on an adult, not on a minor,” Holcomb said in a statement about the Indiana bill.
The American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana quickly sued after Holcomb signed the Indiana legislation.
And the American Civil Liberties Union in Idaho announced, on Wednesday, that it also intends to file a lawsuit over the new law for that state.
The Indiana Civil Liberties Union filed the lawsuit on behalf of four transgender youths and an Indiana doctor who provides medical treatment to transgender people.
He says the ban violates equal protection guarantees in the US Constitution as well as federal laws relating to essential medical services.
“The legislature has not banned the various treatments that have been identified, it has only banned it for transgender people,” said Ken Falk, legal director for the American Civil Liberties Union in Indiana.
Under the Indiana law that goes into effect July 1, doctors who provide sex confirmation care to minors will be penalized by the licensing board.
Under the Idaho law, which is set to go into effect in January, it would be a criminal offense to provide hormones, puberty restraints or other “sex affirming” care to people under the age of 18.
“By signing this bill, I understand that our society has a role to play in protecting minors from surgeries or treatments that could irreversibly damage their healthy bodies,” Little wrote.
“However, as policy makers, we must be very careful whenever we consider allowing the government to meddle in loving parents’ decisions about what is best for their children.”
Supporters of the legislation asserted that the care that was banned was irreversible medical procedures or carried side effects.
They argue that only an adult — not a minor’s parent — can consent to treatments.
But opponents say such care is vital and often life-saving for transgender children.
Medical providers say most procedures are reversible and safe.
Medical treatments for transgender children and adolescents have also been available in the United States for more than a decade and are endorsed by major medical societies.
At least 13 states have laws prohibiting sex confirmation sponsorship of minors: Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Mississippi, Tennessee, Utah, South Dakota and West Virginia.
Federal judges have blocked enforcement of the Alabama and Arkansas laws.
The Republican-led Kansas legislature on Wednesday also overridden Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly’s veto of a bill to ban transgender athletes from girls’ and women’s sports from kindergarten through college.
Another 19 states have imposed restrictions on transgender athletes, the latest being Wyoming.
The Arkansas Senate also sent a bill Wednesday to Republican Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders that would require parental consent for Arkansas teachers to address transgender students using their preferred names and pronouns.
Schools will also be prohibited from requiring teachers to use the student’s chosen pronouns or name [بدلا عن الاسم او الضمير الرسمي له].
And in some states where Democrats control the legislature, legislators enshrine access to gender-affirming health care.
Democratic New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham signed a bill Wednesday that protects gender-affirming health care providers from potential civil and criminal prosecution.
Dr Molly McLean, who provides gender-affirming health care to patients of all ages, said the new legislation sends a message to people who are exploring their identity in ways that may not align with gender norms.