Alabama’s companion bills SB184 and HB 266 have been progressing the chambers in their attempt to ban lifesaving healthcare for transgender youth, and to normalize transphobia by conflating being trans with a public health crisis that children need to be ‘saved’ from.

These bills threaten 10 years of imprisonment onto doctors providing this care, and would make schools unsafe spaces for trans youth, by requiring staff to ‘out’ students to parents who could be non-supportive.

Continuing with a legacy of media misrepresentation and sensationalization, Alabama’s local media has failed to contextualize these bills, with only six articles being written about them.

In 15 local news articles covering legislation in Alabama and Idaho, half didn’t push-back against the fear-mongering misinformation of the bills, and two-thirds didn’t report that gender-affirming care is supported by every major medical organization in the country, a report by Media Matters finds.

“Local media holds an important position as a trusted source of information in communities across the country, making fairness and accuracy in local coverage of these issues a vital tool for voters to understand the dangers of bills targeting trans youth,” Media Matters reports.

In line with these coordinated legislative attacks against trans youth across the country, Alabama’s bills follow the common theme of medicalizing transness to strip a child’s autonomy, by falsley claiming that the child will ‘grow’ out of being transgender.

The “wait and see” approach recommended by the bills to support their argument for banning healthcare, will have devastating impacts.

More than half of trans children were at risk of suicide this past year, and access to gender-affirming care is linked to being at lower risk of attempting suicide by nearly 40 percent in transgender and nonbinary youth.

HB 266 and SB 184 were passed the House Judiciary Committee with a favorable report on March 2nd. HB 266 and SB 184 will also go to the Alabama House for a vote. If SB 184 passes, will be sent to Alabama Governor Kay Ivey to be signed into law, according to ACLU.