Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Suicide Risk Significantly Higher For Transgender People: Study
CNN: Transgender People Face Significantly Higher Suicide Risk, Danish Study Finds
People who identify as transgender have significantly higher rates of suicide and suicide attempts compared with the rest of the population, according to a population-level study out of Denmark. The study of more than 6.6 million people found that those who identified as trans had 7.7 times the rate of suicide attempts and 3.5 times the rate of suicide deaths than the broader Danish population. (Christensen, 6/27)
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More on LGBTQ+ health care —
AP: Arizona Governor's Executive Actions Ban 'Conversion Therapy,' Allow Transgender Health Care
Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs issued two pro-LGBTQ executive orders on Tuesday, banning state support of so-called conversion therapy and allowing transgender state employees to receive gender-affirming health care under their insurance plan. Hobbs made the announcement from the offices of a central Phoenix nonprofit that focuses on helping LGBTQ+ youth. (6/27)
AP: Ban On Gender-Affirming Care For Minors In North Carolina Clears Another Legislative Chamber
Restrictions on access to gender-affirming care for transgender youth have now passed both North Carolina legislative chambers, as the Senate on Tuesday approved a ban on hormone therapy, puberty blockers and surgeries that is more stringent than what the House recently passed. The Senate’s proposal would prohibit any health care provider in the state from giving such care to anyone under 18, with exceptions for certain procedures or disorders. Medical professionals who violate the restrictions could have their licenses revoked and could be sued. (Robertson, 6/27)
Military.com: New VA Gender Affirmation Surgery Policy Sitting On Secretary's Desk
It's been two years since VA Secretary Denis McDonough announced that the VA would cover gender affirmation surgery for transgender veterans, but to date, the VA has yet to publish regulations that would allow it to start providing treatment. On Tuesday, McDonough said the holdup was with him -- that the policy is on his desk and he is "not yet ready" to roll out the rule under the federal regulatory process that would create the benefit. (Kime, 6/27)
KFF Health News: Misinformation Obscures Standards Guiding Gender-Affirming Care For Trans Youth
Almost three weeks after Florida’s Republican governor, Ron DeSantis, signed a bill making it a felony for doctors to provide gender-affirming care to transgender minors, a judge issued a preliminary injunction preventing enforcement of the law for three children whose parents are part of an ongoing lawsuit. Florida is one of at least 20 states that have limited gender-affirming treatment for minors. The legislators sponsoring some of these bills say their intent is to protect children and families from pressure “to receive harmful, experimental puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones and to undergo irreversible, life-altering surgical procedures,” as a new Montana law puts it. (Santoro, 6/28)
Also —
Kansas City Star: Woman With HIV Placed In Solitary For 6 Years In MO: Lawsuit
A transgender woman who spent more than 2,000 days in solitary confinement while in a Missouri prison alleges corrections officials discriminated against her because she has HIV. The unnamed woman is referred to as Jane Roe in a federal lawsuit filed Tuesday in the U.S. Court for the Western District of Missouri. Anne Precythe, director of the Missouri Department of Corrections, and 11 other employees are named as defendants. (Moore, 6/27)
