Des Moines, Iowa — Republican lawmakers are proposing a ban on gender reassignment surgery and hormone therapy for transgender youth.
Senator Jeff Edler, a Republican from State Center, says if the state can make it illegal for minors to use tobacco or alcohol, it can ban body altering procedures.
Subcommittees in the Iowa House and Senate approved the same bill on Tuesday afternoon. A woman who said her name was Angie testified at the subcommittee hearing in the Senate.
Samantha Fett of Carlisle, a member of the conservative Moms for Liberty group, says the bill protects the children of today and future generations.
Doctors and parents pushed back on the idea children are being manipulated. Karen Butler of Iowa City told lawmakers her child is non-binary and the family spent years meeting with specialists and mental health professionals.
Dr. Kaaren Olesen, an OB/GYN at Broadlawns Hospital in Des Moines, cares for LGBTQ youth.
Aime Wichtendahl, a member of the Hiawatha City Council, told lawmakers she knew at the age of nine — as a student at a Christian school — that she was trans.
South Dakota lawmakers recently passed a ban on gender reassignment surgery and hormone therapy for minors. Similar legislation has been proposed this year in 26 other states.
The bills, SSB 1145, and HSB 222, give ultimate authority in the healthcare decisions of a minor child to the child’s parents. It does specifically state that the bill shall not be construed as to prohibit a minor child from receiving medical attention in an emergent care situation, and it does not prohibit a person from cooperating in a child abuse assessment.
