DISTURBING

Idaho and Indiana Becomes Latest States to Ban Gender-Affirming Care for Minors

Idaho’s “Vulnerable Child Protective Act” includes sentences of up to 10 years for doctors who provide gender-affirming care.

Idaho and Indiana became the most recent states to ban gender-affirming care for minors on Wednesday as a raft of anti-trans bills sweep state legislatures across the country. Indiana’s Republican Gov. Eric Holcomb, who vetoed a ban on transgender girls athletes last year, said Wednesday’s bill was “entirely different,” arguing that gender dysphoria is real but that medical transitioning should only occur as an adult. The bill will force minors who are in the midst of gender-affirming medical care to de-transition or leave the state. Idaho Gov. Brad Little signed a similar bill Wednesday called the “Vulnerable Child Protective Act,” which bans anyone under 18 from accessing puberty blockers, hormone treatments, and transition-related surgery, and includes prison sentences of up to 10 years for doctors who provide such care. “We are watching parental rights being dismantled in the name of stigmatizing and harming our most vulnerable youth,” said Add the Words, Idaho, a leading LGBTQ advocacy group, in a statement. Little seemed to acknowledge criticism of the bill, saying lawmakers should “take great caution whenever we consider allowing the government to interfere with loving parents and their decisions about what is best for their children,” even as he signed it into law.