The Alabama Legislature has passed a bill to criminalize medical treatments to help transgender minors affirm their gender identity.
The House of Representatives gave final passage to the bill today, the final day of the legislative session. It goes to Gov. Kay Ivey, who could sign it into law.
Gina Maiola, communications director for Ivey, said this afternoon the bill would undergo the thorough review every bill receives.
The bill passed the House by a vote of 66-28. The vote came after the Republican majority passed a petition to cut off the debate after a short time. The vote to pass the bill was mostly along party lines, with Republicans supporting it and Democrats opposed.
Rep. Neil Rafferty, D-Birmingham, the only openly gay member of the Legislature, said the ban would make life harder for young people who already face challenges.
“This is invasive,” Rafferty said. “It’s hard enough growing up being different. It’s even harder growing up being different and then have the state legislature, your elected officials, the leaders of this state, put a target on children’s backs. Put a target on the parents’ backs. And once again, get in the middle of their decisions and say you don’t know what to do. You don’t know what’s best.”
Legislators have proposed the bill for three years but it had not come up for a vote in the House before today.
This year’s bill, by Sen. Shay Shelnutt, R-Trussville, had already passed the Senate. The House sponsor is Rep. Wes Allen, R-Troy.
Allen, who had introduced the bill three consecutive years, said he was pleased it was headed to Ivey.
“It’s about protecting these minors,” Allen said. “And it’s not about adults, but it’s about those minors. Their minds are not fully developed to make these decisions on these medications and surgeries.”
Allen said he had talked to doctors who opposed his bill but had not talked to transgender minors.
The bill would make it a felony punishable by up to 10 years in prison for doctors to prescribe puberty blockers or hormones or to perform surgeries on transgender minors to help them transition. Doctors who provide the care say no such surgeries are done on minors in Alabama.
The legislation, called the Alabama Vulnerable Child Compassion and Protection Act, has been heavily debated for three years. Proponents say the therapies should not be used on minors because of the long-term consequences that they might later regret.
The bill has drawn opposition from families who would be affected and from the Alabama Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics. They say the medications come as part of an established standard of care and only after careful evaluations by teams of medical professionals.
The U.S. Department of Justice and the Department of Health and Human Services have notified states that they intend to protect access to transgender care for minors.
(A copy of the bill is attached to the end of this story.)
A federal court blocked enforcement of a similar law passed in Arkansas.
The Republican majority allowed little debate on the bill today, passing a petition to end discussion and force a vote.
Meanwhile, the first bill on the calendar for the Senate today also concerned a transgender issue. It would require that public schools restrict access to multi-occupancy restrooms and locker rooms to students based on their biological sex. The Senate passed the bill after adding an amendment to stop K-5 elementary teachers from “instruction” on sexuality and gender.
Read more: Alabama Senate passes ‘Don’t Say Gay’ bill, transgender bathroom restrictions
Another high-profile bill still pending on the last day would prohibit the teaching of “divisive concepts” on race, gender, and religion in public schools. It has passed the House and is not on the calendar in the Senate today.
Allen, the House sponsor of the bill to ban the medical treatments for transgender minors, began the debate this morning by saying that the legislation falls within the scope of what the Legislature does to protect children. He used the example of a law prohibiting vaping for minors.
Rep. Barbara Drummond, D-Mobile, who sponsored the bill on vaping by minors, objected to Allen comparing the two issues.
“I dare you to stand here and to equate this bill with a vape bill, which is protecting the health of our children,” Drummond told Allen.
Allen noted that some adults who have gone through transgender medical treatments have spoken in favor of his bill at public hearings, saying they regretted receiving the treatments.
“We just want to make sure we protect the kids,” Allen said. “These drugs are used off label. There are side effects that are long lasting. The young lady that spoke this year in committee is on medication right now to try to reverse those effects that took place to her when she was on the cross sex hormones. And she had said she wished someone would have stopped her. And so that’s what we’re aiming to do with this bill is to make sure we protect our bodies until they get to be adults.”
The bill would not prohibit transgender minors from receiving mental health counseling, Allen said. He said the goal of the bill is to help children flourish.
Rep. Chris England, D-Tuscaloosa, the first lawmaker to speak in opposition to the bill today, said he thinks the bill could prohibit or inhibit such counseling because of concerns that counselors could be running afoul of the law.
England said the goal of the bill is to cause transgender people to have to leave Alabama to seek care. He said the legislation would replace parental authority with governmental authority.
“Make no mistake about it, it has nothing to do with protecting children,” England said. “Because if we were interested in protecting children, we would make sure doctors have as many options as necessary to make sure that that child grows up healthy and happy here.”
“It’s unfortunate we’ve got to use children to score political points under the guise of trying to protect them,” England said.
The vote by Republicans to cut off debate left only 10 minutes for lawmakers to talk about the bill.
Rafferty used most of that time to speak vehemently in opposition to it.
“This is an issue that deals with being a human being,” Rafferty said. “This is an issue of family and preserving the integrity of family. If we vote this bill through, it will be taking the 105 of us (representatives), plus 35 upstairs (senators), getting in a doctor’s office and telling those parents that they don’t know what they’re doing, they don’t love their kid.”
Rafferty said the bill was outside the spirit of small government and conservatism that Republicans espouse.
“It’s totally undermining family rights,” Rafferty said. “It’s totally undermining health rights and access to health care that is scientifically evidence based and has been used for 30 years.”
The American Academy of Pediatrics and the Alabama Chapter of the AAP issued a statement about the Alabama bill passing, saying they have repeatedly opposed bills that discriminate against transgender youth and their right to receive medical care. The organizations said studies show that gender-affirming care can reduce emotional distress, improve sense of well-being and reduce the risk of suicide for young people who identify as transgender.
“The Alabama Chapter of AAP strongly opposes this bill, which criminalizes evidence-based care, endangers the safety of vulnerable youth at home, and interferes with the fundamental physician-patient-family relationship,” said Dr. Nola Ernest, vice president of the Alabama chapter. “Pediatricians in our state care for transgender patients the way we care for all of our patients, by providing science-based, high-quality care to those who need it. We know our patients best, and physicians, not politicians, should be the ones determining how to best do our job. We urge Governor Ivey to veto this bill and instead pursue policies that prioritize children’s health and safety.”
According to roll call on the Legislature’s website, all but two of the 28 votes against the bill came from Democrats. The two Republicans listed as voting against the bill were Reps. Cynthia Almond of Tuscaloosa and Corley Ellis of Columbiana.
Related: Alabama parents, advocates fear LGBTQ kids will be outed, cut off from treatment under possible law