As Mississippi’s Republican governor signed a law on Tuesday banning doctors from performing hormone treatments and surgical procedures, transgender adolescents in the state can no longer obtain gender-affirming therapy.
Gov. Tate Reeves‘ endorsement of HB 1125 comes as Republican-led states are introducing an unprecedented number of laws this year that aim to limit gender-affirming care. In recent months, discussions on the subject have expanded to new areas due to legislative proposals that would make some bans applicable to those over 18.
Gender-affirming care is evidence-based, medically necessary care that employs a multidisciplinary approach to assist a person in transitioning from their assigned gender—the gender they were given at birth—to their affirmed gender—the gender they choose to be identified by.
Mississippi’s ban, effective as soon as Reeves gave it his signature, forbids the provision and administration of cross-sex hormone therapy, puberty-blocking medications in individuals under 18, and gender change surgery.
Being “knowingly engaged in activity that assists or abets the performance or instigation of gender change treatments” on minors is likewise against the law, according to the statute.
The law also grants people who “assert an actual or threatened” violation of the ban the right to bring civil suits against “any facility, individual, or entity” for breaking its provisions.
Any healthcare professional found to violate the ban will have their license to practice medicine in the state revoked, according to the law. There is a 30-year statute of limitations on filing such lawsuits.
“At the end of the day, there are two positions here. One tells children that they’re beautiful the way they are. That they can find happiness in their bodies.
The other tells them they should take drugs and cut themselves up with expensive surgeries to recover from depression. I know which side I’m on,” Reeves said in a statement on Tuesday.
The American Psychiatric Association defines gender dysphoria as psychological distress when a person’s gender identity and the sex assigned at birth do not match. Significant medical associations concur that gender-affirming care is clinically appropriate for children and adults with gender dysphoria.
Some kids may choose reversible puberty suppression therapy, even though the care is highly customized. Hormone therapy, which can result in gender-affirming physical changes, may also be a part of this process. However, surgical operations are not frequently performed on children, and many medical professionals do not provide them to youngsters.
LGBTQ activists have long emphasized the need for gender-affirming healthcare for a population with a disproportionately high suicide rate since it can save lives. Pubertal suppression “is connected with lower behavioral and emotional difficulties and decreased depressive symptoms,” According to a 2020 research brief from The Trevor Project. This nonprofit organization strives to prevent suicide among LGBTQ adolescents.
According to Kasey Suffredini, the organization’s vice president of advocacy and government relations, “decisions concerning medical care should be made between parents, patients, and doctors – not by politicians,” the group criticized Reeves’ decision to sign the bill on Tuesday.
South Dakota passed a similar healthcare restriction earlier this month, while Utah enacted one in January. Bans against gender-affirming care have recently passed in Alabama, Arizona, and Arkansas, but federal courts have temporarily overturned two.
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