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Sources:
https://apnews.com/article/arkansas-legislature-us-news-legislation-asa-hutchinson-83d07a502678f9745bb00f91aa4865f6
https://apnews.com/article/arkansas-lawmakers-enact-transgender-youth-treatment-ban-dce1d5ca9450b255caabc18f547f7b9b
https://www.acluarkansas.org/en/press-releases/aclu-statement-arkansas-legislatures-vote-override-veto-transgender-health-ban
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7073269/
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26835611/
https://www.insider.com/over-half-of-us-states-tried-passing-anti-trans-bills-2021-3
https://www.them.us/story/anti-trans-bills-2021
https://www.aclu.org/legislation-affecting-lgbt-rights-across-country
Horrible news.
That’s insensitive
Arkansas became the first state to ban doctors from providing gender-affirming healthcare including reversible puberty blockers, hormone therapy, and surgeries to transgender youth on Tuesday, after the state’s lawmakers overrode GOP Gov. Asa Hutchinson’s veto of House Bill 1570.
“Hutchinson vetoed the bill Monday following pleas from pediatricians, social workers and the parents of transgender youth who said the measure would harm a community already at risk for depression and suicide,” Associated Press reports.
The American Civil Liberties Union has vowed to challenge the law in court before it goes into effect (which isn’t supposed to happen until July at the earliest).
“We are committed to doing all we can to support these families and ensure they know how to continue to fight for their rights and get the care and resources they need,” ACLU Arkansas’ Executive Director Holly Dickson, said in a statement.
Access to puberty blockers during adolescence is inversely associated with lifetime suicidal ideation among trans adults, and children who aren’t able to access gender affirming healthcare experience higher rates of depression, anxiety, and suicide than trans youth who have supportive doctors and families, studies find.
Chase Strangio, the Deputy director for transgender justice, ACLU, adressed trans children affected by this bill in a statement:
“Trans youth in Arkansas: We will continue to fight for you. The ACLU is preparing litigation as we speak. ACLU supporters from around the country spoke out against this bill. We will always have your back and will be relentless in our defense of your rights.”
A record number of anti-trans bills have been introduced in the United States legislative sessions this year -- from the over 80 bills attacking transgender rights, over 70 target trans youth’s access to healthcare and school sports.
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