Protesters outside the Mississippi Capitol, in Jackson, call for lawmakers to vote against House Bill 1125, which would ban gender-affirming care for trans children, Wednesday, Feb. 15, 2023.
Rogelio V. Solis, Associated Press
Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves, a Republican, signed a bill into law that bans the use or distribution of puberty blockers, hormone therapy and transition surgery for teens under the age of 18 and took a stand against what he claims is “pseudo science.”
“It’s advancing under the guise of a false ideology, and pseudo science is being pushed onto our children through radical activist, social media and online influencers, and it’s trying to convince our children that they are in the wrong body,” Reeves said on Tuesday, per NBC News.
“This dangerous movement attempts to convince these children that they’re just a surgery away from happiness. It threatens our children’s innocence, and it threatens their health,” he said.
Opponents, including the American Medical Association, say medical care shouldn’t be criminalized.
The bill, which passed the Mississippi Senate 33-15 and House 78-30, says physicians who break the law can have their licenses revoked. It makes exceptions in cases of intersex infants and circumcision. It also extends the time limit for suing health care providers, according to The Hill.
According to The Associated Press, Reeves previously approved a law that bans transgender athletes from competing in women’s sports. After signing the latest bill, the Mississippi governor was joined by Matt Walsh, a right-wing political commentator who was behind the 2022 documentary “What Is A Woman?”
Mississippi joins six states — Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, South Dakota, Tennessee and Utah — that have enacted similar regulations. Meanwhile, at least 19 other states are looking at putting restrictions in place.
In Utah, the first state in 2023 to ban transgender interventions for young people, a majority of residents approved of the bill SB16 signed into law by Gov. Spencer Cox, according to a Deseret News poll. Some medical professionals and the American Academy of Pediatrics disagree with …read more
Source:: Deseret News – Utah News