GOP Texas senators reverse their votes allowing some transgender kids to keep receiving puberty blockers and hormone therapy

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Republican Texas senators on Monday reversed themselves and voted towards permitting transgender youngsters at the moment being handled with puberty blockers and hormone remedy to proceed receiving such care.

That reversal primarily expanded Senate Invoice 14’s proposed ban on transition-related care to incorporate all transgender youngsters — as outlined within the laws’s unique model. The chamber voted 19-11 alongside occasion traces to preliminarily approve the broader model of the invoice, which is precedence laws for Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick.

Monday’s vote to increase the restrictions and advance the laws got here days after the GOP-controlled Senate agreed to permit youngsters already on puberty blockers and hormone remedy by early June to maintain their entry to these therapies.

Republican Sen. Donna Campbell of New Braunfels, SB 14’s writer, stated Monday that she needed to take away the exceptions as a result of they weren’t mentioned in a committee listening to earlier than reaching the total Senate.

“There have been so many questions which have been introduced up for the reason that modification was placed on that out of respect for the physique, we’re going to ask that it’s taken down,” she stated.

Campbell additionally efficiently launched an modification to maneuver the invoice’s efficient date from Dec. 1 to Sept. 1, 2023.

Sen. José Menéndez, D-San Antonio, pushed again towards eradicating the exceptions, which might have allowed extra transgender youngsters to obtain care that many medical teams say is significant to their psychological well being. Throughout committee debates for each SB 14 and its Home companion invoice, the Texas Medical Affiliation has additionally known as for lawmakers to permit trans youth who’re already receiving transition-related medical therapies reminiscent of puberty blockers or hormone remedy to proceed receiving them.

“There’s in depth information exhibiting that hormone remedy withdrawal signs might be and are very actual tough to deal with,” Menéndez stated. “I am undecided after the listening to the place we — Senator Campbell and I — sat via, why we’d need to pull the rug out from underneath folks.”

Disclosure: The Texas Medical Affiliation has been a monetary supporter of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan information group that’s funded partially by donations from members, foundations and company sponsors. Monetary supporters play no position within the Tribune’s journalism. Discover a full record of them right here.

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