NC closer to ban on gender-affirming care, even for those whose parents agree it is necessary
A ban on gender-affirming medical care for transgender people under 18 is just one vote away from Gov. Roy Cooper's desk.
The state House and Senate must still reconcile different versions of the bill.
The House version of the bill would ban in UNC Health and other state facilities from providing gender-affirming care. The Senate version of the bill would ban any health care professional in the state from providing any gender-affirming medical care to anyone under 18.
Gender-affirming treatments for gender dysphoria are considered safe and medically necessary by the leading professional health associations, including the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Medical Association and the Endocrine Society. While trans minors very rarely receive surgical interventions, they are commonly prescribed drugs to delay puberty and sometimes begin taking hormones before they reach adulthood.
But bill supporters like Sen. Joyce Krawiec (R-Forsyth) insist those are experimental treatments.
"The state has an interest in protecting our citizens, and gender transitioning has doubled between 2017 and 2021," she said.
Transgender woman Ellie Isley told lawmakers that gender-affirming care is lifesaving for trans kids who are suicidal.
"You are attempting to increase the suicide rate of my community. You are going to kill children with this bill. And if you go through with this, the blood is on your hands," she said.
Kendra Johnson, executive director of Equality NC, said, "The advancement of SB 631 is disgusting news for our state. SB 631 will severely limit access to gender-affirming care for transgender youth, for many amounting to a total ban on care. This legislation only serves to put vulnerable youth in harm’s way and create more hatred toward our community. What’s worse is that the legislators passing these horrific bills are the same people who refused to meet with their LGBTQ+ constituents and their families."
Sen. Sydney Batch (D-Wake) spoke against the bill, saying it interferes in what should be a private healthcare decision.
"We continue to have a ridiculous amount of hypocrisy in some of the bills that we passed by saying parents in one stance should be able to of course make all of these decisions with regards to their children. When it comes to this they can't. So I wish we would pick a lane," she said.
Some 20 other states have passed similar laws, and several have been blocked in federal courts. On Tuesday, a federal judge in Arkansas threw out that state's law, finding that it violated the constitutional rights of transgender people, their parents and their doctors.
House Democrats pointed that out during emotional debate Wednesday. State Rep. John Autry, D-Mecklenburg, begged his Republican colleagues to think of his transgender granddaughter, who transitioned as a teenager. Some lawmakers say she should have waited until she was 18, Autry said.
“My concern, would she be alive at 18 had she been denied her care?" Autry asked. “Please. Please vote no on this bill.”
Rep. Allison Dahle, D-Wake, said she cries every time this bill comes up for debate.
“It sows hate, it sows division," she said, adding that transgender people are "in pain" over the bill "because they feel like they’re fighting for their lives.”
Republican lawmakers pointed out that they're only banning these treatments for minors and that current state law makes it illegal to get a tattoo before turning 18.
Rep. Tim Reeder, R-Pitt and a medical doctor, said the state must forbid potentially life altering treatments to people too young to understand the ramifications.
"Prevent these unproven treatments on children," Reeder told the House.
WRAL State Government Reporter Travis Fain contributed to this report.
