Louisiana lawmakers overturn governor's veto on gender-affirming care ban for transgender minors
Louisiana’s Republican-dominated Legislature overturned Democratic Gov. John Bel Edwards’ recent veto of a ban on gender-affirming care for transgender minors on Tuesday
BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Louisiana’s Republican-dominated Legislature overturned Democratic Gov. John Bel Edwards’ recent veto of a ban on gender-affirming care for transgender minors on Tuesday.
Louisiana, where the ban is scheduled to go into effect Jan. 1, 2024, will join 20 other states that have enacted laws restricting or banning gender-affirming medical care, which includes puberty-blockers, hormone treatment and gender reassignment surgery. Most of those states face now lawsuits, and in some places the bans have been temporarily blocked by federal judges.
Like statehouses across the country, for the last three months Louisiana lawmakers have heard and held debates over gender-affirming care — something that has been available in the United States for more than a decade and is endorsed by major medical associations. Discussions over the ban were marred by misinformation, swarmed with religious arguments and saw hours of emotional testimony from the LGBTQ+ community
At one point, during the regular legislative session, the proposed ban was presumed dead after a veteran Republican lawmaker cast a tie-breaking vote to kill the bill. However, amid pressure from Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry, who is a GOP gubernatorial frontrunner, and the Republican Party of Louisiana, the bill was resurrected and passed.
