Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Spotlight On Anti-Trans Legislation As Bills Pass At Record Rate
The Washington Post: Anti-Trans Bills Have Doubled Since 2022. Our Map Shows Where States Stand
On Thursday, members of the Montana legislature held a contentious hours-long hearing on a bill to define sex in state law as male or female. In Nebraska, legislators resumed debate on, then voted to advance a bill that would ban gender-affirming care for minors, following a weeks-long filibuster by the bill’s opponents. Two days earlier, the Missouri House approved restrictions on trans girls’ participation in sports and on gender-affirming care for minors. The same day, North Dakota’s governor signed into law a measure to ban trans girls from joining female sports teams in grades K-12 and in college. The near-daily flurry of simultaneous hearings and votes is the result of a tsunami of anti-trans bills that have been making their way through dozens of states legislatures since January. (Kirkpatrick and Branigin, 4/17)
North Carolina Health News: 2023 Is A Record Year For Anti-Trans Legislation Across The Country, And It’s Only April
Orange County mother Katie Jenifer, like all parents, has always wanted her two children to be happy and healthy. She said it hasn’t been easy, especially of late, given the large number of bills targeting transgender people that lawmakers have recently introduced in North Carolina and beyond. (Crumpler, 4/18)
FiveThirtyEight: Red State Voters Support Anti-Trans Laws. Their Lawmakers Are Delivering.
Utah is one of at least 14 states that have passed new laws this year aimed at placing restrictions on transgender individuals — typically trans kids, specifically — as well as their parents and health care providers, including sports bans, bans against gender-affirming care and laws requiring students to use the bathroom that corresponds to the gender they were assigned at birth. Trans issues have clearly taken center stage at many statehouses, but do voters support these bills? And does the GOP risk a backlash for pushing these laws through? (Radcliffe and Rogers, 4/18)
More on transgender health from Missouri and Montana —
St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Patients Scramble To Secure Gender-Affirming Care In Missouri Before April 27 Restrictions
Planned Parenthood held a pop-up clinic at its Central West End location on Monday for people seeking gender-affirming care, 10 days before new rules that would make Missouri the first state to greatly restrict care for transgender adults go into effect. Doors opened at 8 a.m. Two hours later, the more than two dozen time slots were filled for the day, and another dozen people made appointments for later this week. (Munz, 4/17)
Kansas City Star: GOP-Controlled Missouri House Approves Transgender Sports Ban
The GOP-controlled Missouri House on Monday approved a bill that would ban transgender athletes from competing in women’s sports. The bill, filed by state Rep. Jamie Burger, a Benton Republican, would prohibit transgender girls grade six and up from competing in women’s sports in public and charter schools. It would also ban transgender women from competing in public and private college sports. (Bayless, 4/17)
AP: Montana Governor Supports Transgender Minor Health Care Ban
Montana’s Republican governor indicated Monday he would sign a bill to ban gender-affirming medical care for transgender minors, but he suggested changes to make it clear that public funds could not be used to pay for surgery or hormone treatments for youth diagnosed with gender dysphoria. “I share your profound commitment to protect Montana children from invasive medical treatments that can permanently alter their healthy, developing bodies,” Gov. Greg Gianforte wrote in a letter to the legislative leaders offering his amendments. (Hanson, 4/17)
