As Democrats Sit Out, Republicans Advance Ban On Trans Youth Health Care
Republicans on a Senate committee voted Friday to ban gender-affirming health care for transgender youth, following a procedural move that allowed the ban to be reinstated after last week's negative vote.
Four Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee voted unanimously to send House Bill 648 to the Senate floor after a brief hearing. Three Democrats on the committee - senators. Cleo Fields of Baton Rouge, Jay Lono of Alexandria and Jimmy Harris of New Orleans refused to attend the meeting, reportedly in protest at the move to revive the bill. Fields said the bill failed in full hearing and not before the Judiciary Committee.
The vote comes after LGBTQ+ supporters won a rare victory last week when the Senate Health and Welfare Committee voted 5-4 to stop the law. Representative Fred Mills R. Parks received threats from supporters of the bill.
The law is part of a wave of national laws targeting LGBT people, pushed by Republicans and national groups and hyped up by conservative media. Louisiana has been slower than some other Republican-led states to pass a similar law – Governor. While Democrat John Bel Edwards resisted several attempts, supporters have had more success this year.
The bill has not yet become law. The Senate is expected to vote on the bill, then the House must adopt an amendment by Friday that moves the effective date to January 1, 2024. If so, the bill will be sent to Edwards' desk, and if he vetoes it, lawmakers can hold a veto session to try override the veto.
The bill would bar doctors from giving treatments such as puberty blockers, hormones or surgery to people under the age of 18. This health care is extremely scarce in Louisiana; According to a Louisiana Department of Health report examining young Medicaid recipients, only a few dozen minors receive such assistance each year. No sex reassignment surgery was performed on participants in this study. State health officials say the federal Medicaid program helps about 69 percent of all children in the state.
After the bill was blocked by the Health and Welfare Committee, the Senate voted Thursday 26-12 to move it to Judiciary Committee A, where the passage is easier. Senate President Paige Cortez said this week the move made sense because many similar laws are being challenged and Judiciary Committee A could determine that the law "violates some sort of parental rights or doctor-patient confidentiality law."
There was no such discussion at committee meetings. Deputy sponsor of the bill. Gabe Verment, R. Bullock, provided a brief summary of the civil remedies included in the bill, outlining how long people must seek help if a doctor breaks the law.
Dozens of supporters and opponents presented papers for or against the bill, but none chose to speak; R. Bossier City, chairman of the Barrow Peacock committee, said all testimony should be included in the civil actions section of the bill. Within minutes, the committee passed him without objection. The Republicans who passed the bill were Peacock and Sens. Jeremy Stein, R Lake Charles; Heather Cloud, the R-Turkish River; and Robert Mills, R Minden.
Peyton Rose Michel, executive director of Trans Louisiana Advocates, says many advocates don't appear out of fear for their safety; He said supporters of the bill filmed and videotaped it at the state capitol. He said supporters of the bill heard Democrats sat down to protest and decided to join them to avoid testifying.
"It is fraud," he said. "He was being manipulated. We know what the atmosphere was like."
Asked about criticism of the Senate's use of procedural measures to revive a bill that was rejected in other committees, Peacock said the Senate strongly voted to move the bill to its own committee.
"I had an audience before President Mills' committee - it lasted for over two hours," he said. "This committee has considered the legal ramifications of this bill. Now we will bring this bill to the House of Representatives and the panel can decide what it wants to do."
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