West Virginia GOP Legislature Limits Access to Transgender Care

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In West Virginia, a place with more transgender people than almost anywhere else in the USA, there is a bill being sent to Governor Jim Justice. He has not said if he will allow this bill to become law or not. The bill would mean that doctors can not help transgender minors get medical support. A spokesperson for the Governor said they could not answer any questions about this law on Saturday.

A research from UCLA Law’s The Williams Institute found that West Virginia has more transgender youth compared to other places in the USA.

And what’s more, all of the big medical organizations like the American Medical Association, American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Psychiatric Association believe that it is important to accept and provide care for transgender youths.

Lawmakers in West Virginia and other states are trying to stop transgender people from getting medical care. They say that treatments like hormone therapy, which helps them become their true selves, is not safe, and is just a way of being “trendy”.

In West Virginia, a law is being proposed which would prevent anyone under 18-years-old from getting hormone therapy and medicines that delay puberty. It also would block surgery that would help minors to align their gender identities with their gender expression. However, medical professionals have said that this type of surgery does not happen in West Virginia already anyway.

The bill includes special exceptions that allow people under 18 years old who might be feeling suicidal to keep taking medicines if they have a medical condition like extreme gender unhappiness. This was added in the last week of the 60-day legislative session and it was suggested by Senate Majority Leader Tom Takubo, who is also a doctor. In some cases, those exemptions will even let transgender youth take hormone therapy.

Gender dysphoria is when a person feels upset because their gender identity doesn’t match the gender they were given at birth. On Friday night, Takubo talked about research which shows that it can help if youth who experience severe gender dysphoria have access to medication. The research showed that this might stop these people from having ideas about suicide or trying to kill themselves.

“These kids face a lot of problems,” said the researcher.

The data from West Virginia Youth Risk Behavior Survey shows that transgender youth in Virginia have suicidal thoughts three times more often than other kids in the state.

Last month, the West Virginia House of Delegates (which was run by the Republicans) passed a law without any help for people with mental health issues. But on Saturday, they changed their minds. Then, all 88 delegates voted yes and only 10 of the Democratic delegates voted no to the revised bill.

Del. Ric Griffith from Wayne County was the only person who talked about this measure in the floor and he was supportive of the mental health exemptions. He said that although parents know what is best for their children, we must give them extra allowance if they are at risk to be suicidal. Two other lawmakers agreed and voted for the amended bill with him.

Under the new law, if you are under 18 years old and have severe gender dysphoria, you will need to see two medical providers like mental health doctors or adolescent medicine specialists in order to get medication therapy. The dose for this medication has to be as low as possible – only enough to treat your psychological condition and not enough to change your gender.

Doctors must receive special training to properly diagnose and treat gender dysphoria in teenagers. Additionally, they need to provide documents that prove medical treatments are necessary to stop or reduce potential self-harm. A written consent from the child’s parents is also required before any treatments can be done.

No hormone therapy should be given to those who haven’t reached puberty yet. That’s according to doctors in West Virginia, who say this doesn’t happen anyway.

This bill makes some exceptions for certain people. These exceptions only apply to people born with a medical condition or taking treatments that relate to their gender transition.

People can get health care if their life or important body functions are in danger without a surgery. The law decided to give the go-ahead after lots of people came to the government building and shouted “trans kids need care!”

Del. Danielle Walker, who is part of the Democratic party and openly identifies as LGBTQ, shouted out the state motto – “Mountaineers are always free” – with enthusiasm.