The Quickie: Nearly 40% of States Restrict Gender-Affirming Care, More Consider Bans
For Immediate Release: June 6, 2023
Welcome to “The Quickie” — Planned Parenthood Action Fund’s daily tipsheet on the top health care & reproductive rights stories of the day. You can read “The Quickie'' online here.
In today’s Quickie: wave of anti-trans legislation continues and PP Maryland stands up against stigma.
NEARLY 40% OF STATES RESTRICT GENDER-AFFIRMING CARE, MORE CONSIDER BANS: This morning, CNN released new data from Movement Advancement Project detailing the dangerous rise in attacks on health care for transgender people. Nineteen states have restricted gender-affirming care through outright bans on care for trans youth and restrictions for trans adults. 2023 has marked an exponential rise in anti-LGBTQ+ bills introduced and passed, with all but three of these 19 states enacting bans this year.
Five states — Idaho, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Alabama, and Florida — have made providing gender-affirming care a felony in many instances, chilling access to trans care more broadly. Gender-affirming care is life-saving and supported by leading medical organizations, like the American Medical Association. Despite this, bans continue to advance: just yesterday, the Louisiana senate passed a ban on gender-affirming care for trans youth. The bill now heads back to the House for concurrence. If the Governor signs this ban, it would make Louisiana the 20th state to restrict gender-affirming care and the 17th just this year.
Read more at CNN.
RESISTING STIGMA: PP MARYLAND TAKES A STAND: Planned Parenthood of Maryland (PPM) is taking a stand against stigma surrounding sexual and reproductive health care. Last week, HONFest, a women’s rights festival in Baltimore, rejected PPM as a vendor unless they abided by a gag rule, limiting them from spreading awareness about the full range of services they offer, including abortion care and gender-affirming care. PPM had previously been a part of the festival for years, but was barred from participating this year due to the perceived politicization of sexual and reproductive health care in the post-Roe era.
“This is bigger than PPM not being able to purchase a vendor space at a festival,” PPM said in a statement. “Nationwide, reproductive health care providers and advocates deal with silencing and efforts to block or decrease access to their services on a daily basis. Every day PPM fights against these antiquated views and the impact they have on Maryland. We have seen bans on reproductive health care, trans health, and LGBTQ+ rights sweep the United States, and they are allowed to take hold because people allow stigma, shame, and victimization to persist. We will not. Marylanders will not.”
Read more at Fast Company.