Texas Legislature Bans Transgender Medical Care for Children
Background: The latest action to prevent transition treatment
The legislation, known as Senate Bill 14, was among the most volatile measures of the state’s every-two-year legislative session, drawing protests from transgender Texans and their supporters at the Capitol this month. State police arrested two people amid protests as the bill was being discussed in the Texas House.
Opponents in the House twice delayed votes on the bill on procedural grounds before it was ultimately passed and returned to the Senate, where it first passed last month. The Senate voted to concur with the House version and send it to the governor on Wednesday.
Even before the legislation passed, Texas officials had taken steps to try to prevent transgender children from accessing medical transition care. Last year, Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican, directed the state’s child protective agency to investigate parents for child abuse if their children received such treatment. Some Texas families fled the state as a result, even as the investigations were being challenged in court.
Why It Matters: The largest state to ban transition care for minors
At least 14 other states have enacted bans or restrictions on medical treatments for transgender children. Texas would be the largest state to do so. According to estimates from the Williams Institute, a research center that reports on the demographics of the L.G.B.T.Q. community, nearly 30,000 transgender children between 13 and 17 live in Texas, making up about 1 percent of Texans in that age group.
The bans are part of a national effort by Republican elected leaders to restrict medical care for transgender children, discussions on gender in schools, and drag performances. Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida signed a bill on Wednesday that bans hormone treatments and gender-transition care minors, and penalizes doctors who violate the law with up to five years in prison.
Supporters of the Texas legislation have called the treatments “mutilation.” Opponents condemned the measure as a politicized assault on the transgender community that would prevent people from receiving care needed to address gender dysphoria. The treatments have been recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics.
Source: The New York Times
