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Republican lawmakers are increasingly successful in their fight to stop young transgender people from getting medically recommended gender-affirming care.
More than 146,000 transgender young people have lost or are in danger of losing access to gender-affirming care in the United States because of active or proposed state bans and policies, a national research center has found.
In all, 32 states have restricted access to gender-affirming care or were considering laws that would do so, according to a recent report from the Williams Institute at UCLA School of Law, which monitors law and public policy surrounding issues of sexual orientation and gender identity. The majority of these states are led by Republican lawmakers, many of whom do not support gender-affirming care for children.
“An unprecedented number of bills have been filed this year to restrict access to gender-affirming care for transgender youth,” said Elana Redfield, the institute’s federal policy director. “States are exploring every avenue to prevent access to care.”
Many proposals wield strict penalties for health care providers and even family members who provide or make efforts to seek out gender-affirming care for minors. Some prohibit insurance carriers from offering coverage or restrict use of state funds for such care.
