A bill expanding the ban on taxpayer funds for transgender-related treatments for minors has moved through the Arizona House.
According to HB 2085, a physician or other health professional may not “provide a gender transition procedure to any individual who is under eighteen years of age” or “refer any individual who is under eighteen years of age to another health professional for a gender transition procedure.” The legislation adds, “Public monies may not be directly or indirectly used, granted, paid, or distributed to any individual, entity, or organization that provides gender transition procedures to any individual who is under eighteen years of age.”
The bill’s sponsor, Rep. Lisa Fink, a Republican, stated, “Kids should not have permanent, life-altering medical procedures pushed on them by adults. HB 2085 protects minors from procedures that can sterilize them, harm healthy development, and lock them into lifelong medical dependence. If you are under 18, you are simply not old enough to consent to irreversible interventions dressed up as ‘health care.’”
A similar bill has been proposed in the Arizona Senate. Under SB 1095, a physician cannot provide a gender transition procedure to a minor, or refer a minor to another health professional for such a procedure.
“The operable word in this bill is ‘minors,’ not adults capable of making long-term decisions,” State Senator Mark Finchem said of the bill, as per Arizona Capitol Times. He added, “When you have a young lady who thinks she is a tomboy — and I know plenty of them, that’s kind of a country thing — they move past that given time and they work through whatever adolescent challenges they might have.”
