Gender-Affirming Care Bans Dealt Setbacks In Idaho, Ohio
A preliminary injunction is in place in Idaho, halting enactment of a law banning gender-affirming care. In Ohio, Republican Gov. Mike DeWine vetoed a similar measure, bucking his own party.
Boise State Public Radio:
Idaho Law Banning Gender-Affirming Health Care For Minors Won't Go Into Effect On Jan. 1
An Idaho law banning gender-affirming health care treatments for transgender minors will not go into effect on Jan.1, 2024 because of a preliminary injunction issued late Tuesday night. House Bill 71 would have blocked transgender people under the age of 18 from getting puberty blockers, hormone therapy or gender confirmation surgery. Doctors could face up to 10 years in prison if convicted, according to the bill language. In the ruling, District Court Judge Lynn Winmill ruled "the law's prohibition of hormones, puberty blockers and other medically accepted practices violates the Due Process Clause and the Equal Protection Clause under the Fourteenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution," according to a news release from the ACLU. (Kloppenburg, 12/27)
MSNBC:
Ohio GOP Governor Vetoes Anti-Trans Bill, Spurns Fellow Republicans
Splitting from other GOP governors on the issue and spurning his fellow Republicans in Ohio, Gov. Mike DeWine vetoed a bill on Friday that would ban gender-affirming care for trans minors and prevent trans girls from participating in girls sports. At a press conference, he spoke about his reasons for vetoing the legislation, saying its consequences for children with gender dysphoria and their families “could not be more profound.” “Many parents have told me that their child would not have survived, would be dead today, if they had not received the treatment they received from one of Ohio’s children’s hospitals. I’ve also been told by those who are now grown adults that but for this care, they would have taken their life when they were teenagers,” he said. The governor’s veto puts him at odds with other Republicans in his state, including his own second-in-command, Lt. Gov. Jon Husted, who had expressed his support for the bill on Thursday. (Lim, 12/30)
AP:
For Transgender Youth In Crisis, Hospitals Sometimes Increase The Trauma
Four days of waiting under the flickering fluorescent lights of UNC Hospitals’ emergency room left Callum Bradford desperate for an answer to one key question. The transgender teen from Chapel Hill needed mental health care after overdosing on prescription drugs. He was about to be transferred to another hospital because the UNC system was short on beds. With knots in his stomach, he asked, “Will I be placed in a girls’ unit?” (Schoenbaum, 12/29)
Daily Mail Online:
The WHO Is Accused Of 'Trans Bias' After Calling For Self-ID To Become A Right In Its First Global Guide To Transgender Care
The World Health Organisation is set to call for people to have the right to self-identify as the opposite sex in its first global guide to transgender care. ... The WHO said 21 experts will meet at its headquarters in Geneva next month to work on the guide, which will focus on the 'provision of gender-affirming care, including hormones' and also 'legal recognition of self-determined gender identity'. But it is already facing criticism as many of the group's members are trans activists and medics who work on 'affirming' healthcare. The group does not include any of the growing number of professionals who have raised concerns about the impact of puberty-blocking drugs on young people. (Beckford, 1/1)
