Gender-affirming care
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The Tennessee Statehouse, controlled by the GOP, has passed a bill that penalizes adults aiding minors in accessing gender-affirming care without parental consent.
Groundbreaking
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This groundbreaking legislation is now awaiting Governor Bill Lee’s approval, drawing parallels to a similar anti-abortion trafficking bill recently passed by Tennessee Republican lawmakers.
Supporters
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The supporters of these bills aim to prevent adults from assisting minors in obtaining abortions or gender-affirming care without parental authorization.
Support
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Governor Lee, a Republican, has not publicly commented on these bills, but it is anticipated that he will sign them into law, given his previous support for stringent abortion and gender-affirming care restrictions.
Critics
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Critics caution that these statutes, promoted by the Republican supermajority as safeguarding parental rights, could have far-reaching implications.
Violations
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Actions considered violations could range from discussing care options with a teenager to aiding them in seeking gender-affirming services in states with more lenient regulations.
Criminal penalties
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Initially, the bill proposed criminal penalties, but supporters have now agreed to impose civil penalties on offenders.
Procedures
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“This is a parent’s rights bill, nothing more, nothing less,” Republican Rep. Bryan Richey, the bill’s sponsor, said during House debate earlier this week. “At the end of the day, parents should have final say what medical procedures their children are receiving, and nobody else.”
Human Rights Campaign
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According to the Human Rights Campaign, Tennessee has implemented the highest number of anti-LGBTQ+ laws compared to any other state since 2015, with over 20 bills progressing through the Legislature in recent months.
State funds
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These bills include one sent to Governor Lee that prohibits the use of state funds for hormone therapy or sex reassignment procedures for prisoners, although it does not affect current state inmates undergoing hormone therapy. Additionally, there is a requirement for public school staff to disclose information about transgender students to their parents.
Approved
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Furthermore, state Republicans approved a measure allowing LGBTQ+ foster children to be placed in households with anti-LGBTQ+ beliefs, a law that Governor Lee ratified earlier this month.
Staggering assault
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“Tennessee lawmakers are on the verge of enacting more than twice as many anti-LGBTQ+ laws as any other state, a staggering assault on their own constituents,” said in a statement by Cathryn Oakley, the Senior Director of Legal Policy at the Human Rights Campaign, expressed her views.
Limitations
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Until now, no state has imposed limitations on assisting young individuals in accessing gender-affirming care, despite the recent trend in over 20 Republican-led states, including Tennessee, to prohibit such care for the majority of minors.
Healthcare
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On the contrary, some Democratic-led states have been advocating to safeguard healthcare providers who offer services prohibited in a patient’s home state.
Protect
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A notable example is Maine, where the Democratic governor signed a bill on Wednesday to protect providers of abortion and gender-affirming care from legal repercussions initiated by other states.
Dispute
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The introduction of the proposal has sparked a dispute between Maine Attorney General Aaron Frey and counterparts from various states, including Tennessee.
Cautioned
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While the attorneys general from other states have cautioned about potential legal challenges against the law, Frey has dismissed these threats as baseless and “meritless.”
