A revised version of Kentucky’s House Bill 470 passed the full House on a 75-22 vote after being approved earlier by the House Judiciary Committee. HB470 focuses on limiting medical services tied to gender transitions for minors. Health care providers who provide gender-affirming care could lose their licenses for doing so in Kentucky. HB740 also prohibits Kentucky youth from legally changing their names as related to a gender transition. Ultimately, the bill would force medical detransition and ban name and birth certificate changes for trans youth. It has passed the house and now goes to the senate.
Rep. Jennifer Decker, R-Waddy, who sponsored HB470, said she filed it to protect children from “irreparable damage.”
Opponents of the bill argue it does nothing to protect children– rather, it increases their chances of harm. Rep. Lisa Willner, a Louisville Democrat and psychologist says research shows that the care banned by the bill, like puberty blockers, have been linked to drops in depression, suicides and anxiety for youths with gender dysphoria.
Representative Pamela Stevenson gave an incendiary testimony against the anti-trans bill.
“I’m not even sure how we got here, but as a 27 year military veteran, I fought so that all people could have freedoms, not just the ones I liked. As an ordained minister, we preach, we teach all the time that God’s decisions are perfect and that we’re to go out and do what he asked us to do take care of the least of these love. Above all, do the work for the people that need it. And now we’re saying he’s imperfect because we got to fix it. We’ve got to insert our opinion on top of God’s design. Don’t tell me it’s about irreparable harm, because you’re not doing anything for the children that are hungry. You’re not doing anything for the children that are in foster care being abused. You’re not doing what needs to be done for the little black kids who are experiencing racism every day. It is not for irreparable harm. It’s because they are not like you. And as a mother, how dare you interfere with one of the most intimate relationships.
[…] If you were really, really concerned about children, I could give you 100 other things you could do to make sure that every kid in Kentucky thrives. Let’s try giving them water out in the rural areas, portable water. Let’s try Medicare, Medicaid, so they can go to the doctor. Let’s try getting the kids off the street that are homeless and sleeping with snow as a blanket. I was born at night, but not last night. This is not about what you say it is.”
HB470 is one of multiple anti- trans bills circulating around the country.
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