Arkansas Passes Bill to Ban Gender-Affirming Care for Trans Youth

This is the third bill passed that affects the LGBTQIA+ community in Arkansas this year.

What We Know:

• On March 29, the Arkansas Senate vote to pass a bill that restricts trans people under the age of 18 from obtaining gender-affirming healthcare such as reversible puberty blockers and hormones. The bill was supported by a 28-7 majority.
• H.B. 1570, or the Arkansas Save Adolescents From Experimentation (SAFE) Act, was filed in late February and was favored in the Arkansas General Legislature. In the bill, it states that organizations that provide care to transgender youths will lose state funding. Alongside this, state-operated health insurance would not cover it. Doctors will even risk their license if they perform this type of healthcare.
• Rep. Robin Lundstrum (R-AR), who presented the bill to Senate, has acknowledged that the bill aims to protect children from a rash decision. She compared transitioning surgeries to alcohol, tattoos, drugs, and buying lottery tickets. Yet, she claims that the bill will not stop children with gender dysphoria from receiving treatment.
• Pediatricians, social workers, and parents of transgender juveniles say it will actually increase the number of depressed and suicidal children in the group. Pediatric doctor Michele Hutchinson testified to Senate on March 22; she informed them that after H.B. 1570 passed the House, she saw multiple kids in the emergency room after attempting suicide.

“Denying them access to gender affirming health care is denying them the right to be themselves,” said Joanna Brandt to reporters at a news conference prior to the vote. She is the mother to a transgender boy.

• Other bills have been recently passed that restrict transgender youths from basic human rights. Arkansas, Mississippi, and Tennessee have signed laws that ban transgender athletes from playing on their genders’ sports teams. Alabama confirmed a bill that makes it illegal for providers to prescribe puberty blockers or hormones to minors. In Tennessee, a House committee passed a measure that prohibits providers from giving sexual identity change therapy to minors unless a parent or guardian has recommendations from three physicians. If this is violated, parents will be charged with child abuse. If healthcare professionals break this law, it will be considered misconduct.

The SAFE Act will now be presented to Gov. Asa Hutchinson (R-AR), who will have five days to sign or veto it. Hutchinson approved two anti-trans bills last week. One denies trans children from participating in their sex’s athletic teams. Another expands religious exemptions for healthcare workers, which will allow them to refuse to treat LGBTQ patients. If H.B. 1570 is passed, it will be the first bill in the United States that enacts such a restraint.