As the transgender controversies continue, many states are fighting for transgender rights.
Some call themselves sanctuary states and fight to allow transgender surgery on minors. However, states like Florida are pushing back and passing controversial bills like this one.
On Tuesday, the Florida Senate voted to pass a bill that bans transgender treatment on minors. According to Fox News, SB 254 passed 27-12 in the chamber where Republicans hold a supermajority. Introduced by Republican state Sen. Clay Yarborough, the legislation would prohibit anyone under age 18 from undergoing sex-reassignment surgery or taking prescription-based cross-sex hormones to treat gender dysphoria. The bill would also make permanent a state rule banning Medicaid from reimbursing people of all ages who undergo the procedures.
Governor DeSantis was a major backer of this bill. It builds on his stance that transgender treatment for minors should be illegal. Florida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo also backed the bill. He said the bill lets people know they can safely raise their children in Florida and stresses the importance of letting children be children.
Now the bill is headed to the Florida House, where another similar bill is already going through the legislative process. The bill in the House goes an extra step by banning private and commercial insurance companies from reimbursements related to transgender treatment.
Thats not all Florida is doing to combat the issue. According to Fox News, Both bills would give state courts temporary emergency jurisdiction in child custody cases where a child in Florida has been subjected to or is threatened with being subjected to sex-reassignment prescriptions or procedures.
Florida is far from the only state to enact bans like these on transgender medical treatments. Now, 11 states have done so, the latest being Kentucky and Virginia. In Kentucky, the House and Senate had to override a veto from the governor to pass their bill. Per Fox News, After lopsided votes in both houses of the Kentucky legislature, Republican supermajorities overrode Democratic Gov. Andy Beshears veto of legislation prohibiting cross-sex hormone therapies and sex-reassignment surgeries for minors, as well as restricts bathroom use by biological sex. The law also bans instruction about sexual orientation and gender identity in schools and permits teachers to decline to use a students preferred pronouns.
After the bill passed, protestors had to be removed from the capital by police. Police officers gave people the option to leave before arrests were made. However, after many refused, there were multiple arrests. Some were charged with criminal trespassing.
That happened on the same day Governor Jim Justice from West Virginia signed a law prohibiting anyone from prescribing anyone under 18 puberty blockers or cross-sex hormones. However, the law in West Virginia has exceptions for teens with gender dysphoria or children that are at risk. Per Fox News, Under the law, which will take effect in January 2024, a patient can be prescribed puberty blockers and hormone therapy after receiving parental consent and a diagnosis of severe gender dysphoria from two doctors, including a mental health provider.
As Democrats continue to push for child mutilation, Republicans will continue to fight back and push for parental rights.
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