Maria Caspani

(Reuters) – Alabama legislators passed a bill Thursday which would make gender-affirming care for transgender teens criminalized. There is also a 10-year prison sentence for doctors.

On the final day of the legislative session the House of Representatives passed the legislation 66 to 28. Now, the bill goes to Kay Ivey, Republican Governor. The latest measure in the flurry of Republican-led state measures aimed at transgender young people is this one.

Democratic Representative Neil Rafferty said to the chamber, “This isn’t a partisan topic… This is an issue which deals with being (a] human being.” This isn’t a small government bill.

Republican Representative Wes Allen stated, “We make decisions within this body that are to protect kids from making permanent harm decisions,” citing the fact that minors can’t get tattoos and cannot buy nicotaine products.

Although Ivey hasn’t said whether or not she would sign the bill last year, she did sign a bill that banned transgender athletes from K-12 schools. Ivey’s Office did not respond immediately to our request for comment.

It would be a crime to offer medical care to minors, including hormonal treatment and puberty blocking drugs.

This would require school personnel to tell parents and legal guardians that “minors’ perceptions of gender or sexuality are not consistent with minors’.”

Arizona Governor Doug Ducey has signed a bill that prohibits irreversible gender reassignment for minors.

American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), stated that it will join other civil rights groups to contest the law in court.

In a statement on Twitter, the ACLU declared that gender-affirming healthcare is “life-saving care”. “Trans teens who are able to receive and want gender-affirming support services will thrive more than those who don’t.”

Mainstream medical professionals and mental health specialists agree that providing gender affirming care can save lives and reduce suicide risk. According to experts, gender-affirming surgery is rare for those under 18. It would only be performed after many years of treatment and in situations where the patient has made their wishes clear.

Alabama senators approved a bill that required multiple toilets in schools public K-12 to allow students to use them according to their biological sexual orientation. The bill was amended to prohibit classroom discussions on gender identity or sexual orientation in some grades.

The culture wars have been dominated by transgender issues ahead of November’s mid-term congressional elections. There have been hundreds of state legislative bills that were introduced, with the vast majority of them targeting trans teens.

Republicans and conservative activists are promoting the law as protections for children’s rights and parental rights. Democrats, LGBTQ+ and other opponents claim that the legislation is unjustifiable, harmful and targets underrepresented and vulnerable communities unfairly.

A poll https://www.thetrevorproject.org/blog/poll-majority-of-u-s-adults-oppose-anti-lgbtq-education-policies-agree-that-transgender-youth-should-have-access-to-gender-affirming-care released last month by The Trevor Project, a suicide prevention and mental health organizations for LGBTQ+ youth, found that a majority of adults in the United States thinks that transgender minors should have access to certain types of gender-affirming medical care.