Georgia lawmakers moved forward with a proposed bill on Monday that effectively bans transgender treatment for children.
The proposal, known as Senate Bill 30, is sponsored by Sen. Ben Watson and bans sex-change surgeries, hormone therapy, and puberty blockers for minors who have gender dysphoria. This is a condition where a person feels distress due to their gender not matching their sex.
Transgender Treatment for Children
Under the new bill, doctors and hospitals who push forward with administering those procedures to children are at risk of being stripped of their licenses. The proposal passed in the Senate by a 34-19 vote and is now set to go to the House for final approval.
Additionally, Senate lawmakers were expected to move forward with Senate Bill 175 on Monday evening, which is sponsored by Sen. Randy Roberts. This particular bill bars prisons from using state funds for inmate sex-change surgeries and hormone treatments.
The debates on the two proposed bills followed House lawmakers' approval of another measure, House Bill 267, last week. According to State Affairs, this proposal requires student-athletes in schools and universities across the state to play on teams based on their biological sex.
Backers of SB 30 argued that the proposed ban would work to protect children and their families from sex-related surgeries and treatments that they could regret later in life. Watson, who is a primary care physician, said that minors are not allowed to do a lot of things right now, such as smoke cigarettes and get tattoos.
On the other hand, critics slammed the proposed bill as an attack on the medical rights and dignity of the state's transgender community. They described the community's members as collateral damage in a political "witch hunt" that is being done to please far-right voters.
Watson's bill comes two years after Republican lawmakers assured parents of transgender children that legislation passed in 2023 to ban specific procedures to assist minors in their gender transition was only a "pause," AJC reported. Legislations Restricting Transgender Care
In 2023, Watson had a hand in letting minors take hormone treatment before the law that year to continue. Additionally, he pushed to remove the ban on puberty blockers from legislation. However, he seems to have changed his stance this year.
Furthermore, the state Senate passed a bill last month that aims to block state employees benefitting from the state-sponsored health plan from receiving gender-affirming care, such as hormone therapy.
Sen. Blake Tillery, who sponsored Senate Bill 39, said it would apply to state employees and minor children. The lawmaker noted that it aims to address a loophole that allowed parents to get banned treatments for their kids using the state plan, as per the Georgia Recorder.
Originally published on parentherald.com
