Wyoming legislature approves ban on gender-affirming care for transgender youth

[Jessica_Rose]

Wyoming legislature approves ban on gender-affirming care for transgender youth

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/wyoming-legislature-approves-ban-on-gender-affirming-care-for-transgender-youth/ar-BB1jw472?ocid=windirect&cvid=7531c7cc598c4ae5b9d32eaa69ccc94a&ei=6

Story by Cy Neff (7 March 2024)

Both chambers of the Wyoming legislature passed a bill on Thursday banning gender-affirming care for minors. Unless vetoed by Governor Mark Gordon, the bill will become law in three business days.

The proposed legislation would bar the use of hormonal therapies and puberty blockers as means of gender-affirming care for children in Wyoming and does not address whether psychiatric forms of gender-affirming care are affected. Physicians and healthcare providers who violate the bill could have their licenses suspended or revoked.

The bill has been met with strong opposition from Wyoming-based medical professionals and advocates for LGBTQ rights. Cheyenne-area pediatrician Joseph Horam worries about the bill's impact on the state's primary care physician shortage.

"This bill puts physicians in conflict. Physicians have a sense of confusion, a sense of despair that we may lose our license just because we're practicing medicine in the way that we think is properly conducted." Horam testified in a recent committee meeting. "This is affecting physician recruitment in the state of Wyoming. This will be a factor that says, 'Well, that's just one less obstacle I want to take on.'"