Utah Bans Health Care for Transgender Youth
American Civil Liberties UnionJan 29, 2023
Utah's Republican Governor Spencer Cox on Saturday signed a law banning transgender surgeries and hormone treatments for minors who have not yet been diagnosed with gender dysphoria.
The GOP-controlled state legislature began considering the bill on Jan. 17, just two days after the government session opened, with Cox signing it one day after it was sent to his desk.
Cox has ignored the warnings of medical organizations, civil rights activists, and the families of transgender youth. This is a horrifying violation of the rights to privacy and life-saving health care. Claims of protecting vulnerable youth with these laws ring hollow with those who know these children best: their parents and doctors.
The science is far from settled on this topic and its consequences. Even the left's own studies show that hormone treatment provides no mental health benefits for boys and very little benefit for girls. Depression and suicide and depression rates are so high among these children because they lack real therapeutic care, and nothing will change until the medical establishment puts the truth over political brownie points and profits.