Louisiana bans gender-affirming care for trans youth despite governor's veto
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
Illustration: Brendan Lynch/Axios
A Louisiana bill banning gender-affirming care for transgender youth will become law after state legislators on Tuesday overturned Gov. John Bel Edwards' veto.
Driving the news: During a relatively rare veto session, the House voted 75 to 23 to override the governor's objection on House Bill 648, which bans hormone treatments, puberty-blocking drugs and other gender-affirming care for anyone younger than 18.
- The Senate later voted 28 to 11 to override the veto, and it's due to take effect on Jan. 1.
Of note: Major medical organizations, including the American Medical Association and the American Academy of Pediatrics, consider gender-affirming care to be medically necessary and potentially lifesaving.
What he's saying: "Today, I was overridden ... on my veto of a bill that needlessly harms a very small population of vulnerable children, their families, and their health care professionals," Edwards said in a statement, adding that he expects the "courts to throw out this unconstitutional bill."
State of play: The legislature adjourned Tuesday evening after voting for the override.
- It was only the state's third veto session since 1974.
The big picture: Lawmakers could have taken up any of the 25 bills and additional budget line items that the governor vetoed from the last legislative term. But Republicans largely focused on three bills targeting the LGBTQ+ community, including the ban on gender-affirming care.
The backdrop: The Republican-led effort needed a two-thirds vote in the House and Senate to override the governor.
For the record: Two other anti-LGTBQ+ bills failed to get enough votes in the House for an override and are now dead for the session.
- House Bill 466, the so-called "Don't Say Gay" bill, would have banned discussion of gender identity and sexual orientation in K-12 public schools.
- House Bill 81, the so-called "Given Name Act," would have restricted students' preferred names and pronouns.
Zoom out: A growing number of states are passing restrictions on gender-affirming care, stoking public confusion about what it entails and where it's permitted.
- Courts across the U.S. have largely put such legislation on hold pending constitutional challenges, though a federal appeals court recently allowed a Tennessee law banning gender-affirming care to take effect.
- The World Health Organization defines gender-affirming care as a range of social, psychological, behavioral and medical interventions "designed to support and affirm an individual's gender identity" when it conflicts with the gender they were assigned at birth, writes Axios' Oriana González.
