Transgender adolescents in Tennessee would be prohibited from obtaining gender-affirming care under a measure presently on its way to the desk of Republican Governor Bill Lee, who has expressed support for the bill.
On Thursday, the bill was approved by a vote of 77 to 16, with three Democrats supporting their Republican colleagues. Civil rights organizations have threatened to file an emergency lawsuit if and when the bill becomes law, creating the prospect of a protracted court struggle in the coming months.
Transgender Teens to be Banned from Gender-Affirming Surgeries
State politicians throughout the United States have submitted bills targeting gender-affirming medical treatment for young people. However, such therapies have been accessible for over a decade and are supported by major medical societies.
Similar legislation has progressed in Nebraska, Mississippi, Oklahoma, and South Dakota. The Republican governor of Utah just enacted a prohibition on transgender medical care.
Meanwhile, the federal judge who halted the restriction on gender-affirming care for kids in Arkansas is weighing whether to declare the legislation unconstitutional. A federal court has also temporarily stopped a similar prohibition in Alabama, according to SFGate.
If approved in Tennessee, doctors would be forbidden from giving gender-affirming therapy to minors, such as prescription puberty blockers and hormones, and might be fined for doing so.
Nevertheless, the legislation specifies exceptions, such as permitting physicians to conduct certain medical services if the patient's treatment began before July 1, 2023, the planned date for the ban's implementation. The measure stipulates that such services shall be discontinued by March 31, 2024.
According to AP News, the measure then authorizes the attorney general to investigate healthcare providers suspected of violating the law, which carries a $25,000 fine. Since a video of a Nashville doctor boasting that gender-affirming surgeries are "big moneymakers" for hospitals appeared on social media last year, Tennessee has been at the epicenter of the debate surrounding transgender kid medical treatment.
The video caused Republican leaders in Tennessee to demand an inquiry of Vanderbilt University Medical Center, although it is still unknown whether any authorities have conducted such an investigation. The private, non-profit hospital reported that it had only performed a handful of gender-affirming operations on adolescents over the years but has temporarily suspended the procedures to examine its practices.
Since its transgender clinic debuted in 2018, the Vanderbilt University Medical Center has performed, on average, five gender-affirming procedures on kids annually. All participants were over 16 years of age and had parental approval; none had received genital operations.
Yet, not every Republican state has enthusiastically embraced such laws. Last week, a bill stalled in a Wyoming legislative committee on concerns that insurers would violate federal law by rejecting coverage for gender-conforming surgeries.
The bill, which had cleared the state Senate, failed in a House committee, 5 to 2 when the restriction on insurance coverage was repealed. To succeed today, it must be reintroduced on the floor of the state House by the Monday deadline, which is a difficult proposition.
Despite having one of the most Republican-dominated legislatures, Wyoming has a lengthy history of opposing culture war legislation.
Georgia To Implement Similar Bill
Meanwhile, the Georgia state senate has adopted a measure that would prohibit minors from undergoing some transgender treatments and operations. Wednesday, the Georgia Senate Health and Human Services Committee voted 10-4 to approve Senate Bill 140.
Per Fox News, this bill would prohibit sex reassignment operations, hormone replacement treatments, and any other medical technique used "to modify main or secondary sexual characteristics."
Sen. Carden Summers, the bill's Republican sponsor, stated that she and others need further study on transgender operations. Jen Slipakoff, a Georgia citizen and dad of a transgender child, stated that he dislikes the involvement of politicians in such medical choices.
In 2018, Slipakoff ran unsuccessfully for the state legislature as a Democrat. If enacted, Georgia would join many states that have banned transgender treatments for kids. On Tuesday, the Mississippi Senate voted to adopt a law prohibiting gender reassignment surgery and other transgender procedures for anyone under 18.
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