🏳️⚧️💊💉 Louisiana Senate Bounces Back Gender-Affirming Healthcare Ban Like a Boomerang!
TL;DR;:
Bayou State’s Senate approves a bill to prohibit healthcare providers from offering gender-affirming medical care to minors under 18, despite previous defeat in a GOP-led committee. This tug-of-war story sees opposition and support clashing like alligators in a bayou! 🐊🥊🐊
🕰️ Imagine this scenario: A controversial bill aimed at banning gender-affirming healthcare for transgender minors gets shot down by a state Senate committee… only to rise from the ashes, like a Phoenix, and soar all the way to approval in the Louisiana Senate. 😲 I mean, talk about an adrenaline-infused comeback! This legislative yo-yo dance is like something straight outta Netflix’s “House of Cards”. 🏛️📺
House Bill 648 seeks to deny healthcare providers the ability to administer gender-affirming medical care to anyone under 18. The risk? Professionals could lose their licenses faster than a catfish fleeing a hungry gator! 😱 Now, do you remember the deciding “no” vote from Sen. Fred Mills (R) that put the bill in its legislative grave? Guess what, HB648 got a second wind and was tossed back into the game by the Louisiana senators. 🔄
Friday saw the bill welcomed by the state Senate Judiciary “A” Committee, a squad with a Republican majority and a taste for criminal justice debates. Apparently, the committee’s three Dems didn’t receive the memo, because they skipped this high-stakes vote. 🚶♂️💨📩
Fast forward to Monday: The bill enjoyed a 29-10 victory in the Senate, carried to the finish line primarily by the Republican contingent. They argue this isn’t about denying rights, but rather about protecting kids from making life-altering medical decisions. 🚸🔐
“This isn’t complicated. Kids should not have access to permanent medical procedures in order to affirm an identity they might outgrow,” says state Sen. Jeremy Stine (R). Do you think it’s that simple, though? 🤔
The medical field seems to disagree with him. Major medical players, like the American Medical Association and the American Academy of Pediatrics, are waving the flag of support for gender-affirming healthcare for both minors and adults. 🩺👩⚕️🏳️⚧️
On the flip side, state Sen. Jay Morris (R) argues these organizations can’t be trusted, claiming they’ve been “infiltrated” by transgender and abortion rights activists. “Infiltrated,” though? Are we talking about the medical community or a James Bond movie here? 🎬🕵️
The drama doesn’t end there! Data shows that, between 2017 and 2021, no gender-affirming surgical procedures were performed on Medicaid-enrolled minors in Louisiana. The prescription of puberty blockers and hormone replacement therapy for minors during the same period was also rare, according to a Louisiana Health Department report. 📈🧐
Despite the legislative roller-coaster, state Sen. Gerald Boudreaux (D) stands firm in his opposition, caring more about human dignity than re-election. Quite the statement, isn’t it? 💪👏
So what’s next? The bill boomerangs back to the GOP-dominated House, where it’s expected to pass. Then it’s off to Democratic Gov. John Bel Edwards, who’s expressed opposition to any legislation that targets the transgender and LGBTQ
