Medical care limits for transgender minors complicates defense bill

[Jessica_Rose]

Medical care limits for transgender minors complicates defense bill

https://www.msn.com/en-us/health/other/medical-care-limits-for-transgender-minors-complicates-defense-bill/ar-AA1vBIzj?ocid=windirect&cvid=419869a9037d4135826dcd369503cba2&ei=38

Story by Leo Shane III (10 Dec 2024)

LGBTQ advocates are urging lawmakers to vote against the annual defense authorization bill because of language barring military health care from providing specialized care for minors diagnosed with gender dysphoria.

But most other controversial social issues have already been stripped from the must-pass defense budget measure, which includes a massive pay raise for junior enlisted troops and a host of other Defense Department reforms. Whether the lone problematic provision will be enough to generate significant Democratic backlash is unclear.

On Monday, a coalition of nearly 300 groups publicly decried the "anti-military family, anti-trans provision" in the $850 billion defense bill and said the language will force service members "to choose between their military careers and providing health care for their loved ones."

The language would not apply to adults seeking treatment for gender dysphoria, only dependents under 18. Congressional negotiators said the goal is to prevent TRICARE from covering any "medical interventions that could result in sterilization" of minors.

Democratic lawmakers pushed unsuccessfully on Monday evening to strip the language from the text of the compromise authorization bill. House Armed Services Committee ranking member Adam Smith, D-Wash., criticized Republican leaders for its inclusion.