(MSN) A bill in Alabama that would ban transgender treatments for minors, such as puberty blockers and hormone therapy, has passed out of the legislature and will go to Gov. Kay Ivey’s desk for signature.
The bill, the Alabama Vulnerable Child Compassion and Protection Act, advanced out of the state House on Thursday by a vote of 66-to-28, mostly along party lines, having passed out of the Senate in February. If enacted, the bill would classify certain transgender treatments delivered to people under 18 as a felony, and doctors found to be violating the law could face up to 10 years in prison.
The bill, the Alabama Vulnerable Child Compassion and Protection Act, advanced out of the state House on Thursday by a vote of 66-to-28, mostly along party lines, having passed out of the Senate in February. If enacted, the bill would classify certain transgender treatments delivered to people under 18 as a felony, and doctors found to be violating the law could face up to 10 years in prison.
“We make decisions in this body all the time that are to protect children from making decisions that could permanently harm them before they are old enough and have a brain developed enough to fully understand their decisions,” said Republican state Rep. Wes Allen, who introduced the House version of the bill.
The bill would also ban all school personnel from withholding any information the students share about their gender identity from their parents.
Democrats have charged that the bill is politically motivated and will have a chilling effect on the state’s ability to attract and retain medical providers. They also said that well-meaning parents acting with their children’s best interests in mind are being unfairly characterized as abusive.
“You care so much about these children. You care so much about these families. But what you’re actually doing is making it harder for them to be here. The thing is, on one hand, you’re saying this is about children. It’s not. What it is about is scoring political points and using those children as collateral damage,” said Democratic Rep. Chris England.
A legal response is already in the works. The Southern Poverty Law Center, the National Center for Lesbian Rights, GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders, and the Human Rights Campaign announced Thursday that they will launch a legal challenge against the state on behalf of two medical providers and multiple families who will be directly affected by the law if enacted.
“Alabama’s lawmakers, and other legislators who are contemplating these discriminatory bills, have been put on notice by the Department of Justice and the Department of Health and Human Services that laws and policies preventing care that healthcare professionals recommend for transgender minors may violate the Constitution and federal law,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Thursday.
“The passage of this bill means that families who love Alabama and call it home will have to move away to ensure their children receive the basic medical care they need,” said Dr. Morissa Ladinsky, a pediatrician at the Gender Health Clinic at UAB Medicine. “This bill puts doctors like me in the untenable position of choosing between ignoring the medical needs of our patients or risking being sent to prison.”
Gov. Ivey, a Republican, has not indicated whether she will sign the bill, though it is expected that she will.
