Bill barring gender-transition medical treatment for Wisconsin children heads to Gov. Evers, who promises veto

MADISON – A bill that would ban doctors from providing medical treatment to help children transition to a gender that matches their identity is heading to Democratic Gov. Tony Evers, who has promised to veto the Republican-backed bill.

All Republican lawmakers in the state Senate voted Tuesday in favor of the bill, which bars children from receiving certain medical procedures aimed at changing their biological sex and from receiving puberty-blocking drugs. All Democrats voted against the bill.

The bill is part of a trio of legislation introduced this year aimed at putting restrictions on transgender youth. Two bills that would bar transgender students from participating in girls and women's sports in high school and college passed in the state Assembly last week, but a Senate committee has yet to hold a public hearing.

Groups representing pediatricians, school social workers and other medical groups urged lawmakers to reject the bill, citing its effect on transgender children's mental health if enacted.

Organizations such as Disability Rights Wisconsin and Wisconsin Public Health Association oppose Republican-backed transgender bill

About a dozen organizations registered in opposition to the bill, including Disability Rights Wisconsin, Fair Wisconsin, the Wisconsin Public Health Association and the Wisconsin Association of Local Health Departments and Boards. The only group registered in favor of the bill is the conservative Wisconsin Family Action.

"Removing the ability for youth and their families to access this affirming care in Wisconsin will negatively impact these young people’s well-being," a coalition of health care groups wrote in a joint statement. "We stand with our patients and their families who seek individualized gender-affirming health care services and our trusted providers and care teams who provide this care. We also support the clinical guidelines that inform this care."

The coalition is composed of the Children's Hospital of Wisconsin, the Wisconsin Medical Society, the Wisconsin chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics, the Medical College of Wisconsin, UW Health and the Wisconsin section of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.

Sen. Duey Stroebel, R-Town of Cedarburg, said he didn't see consensus within the medical community on whether such treatment was appropriate for children.

"The science is far, far from settled," Stroebel, a bill author, said. "Drugs and medical procedures — that's going to make kids better?"

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Legislation details treatments for children transitioning that would be banned

The bill would bar health care providers from conducting or making referrals for certain medical practices for youth under age 18 "if done for the purpose of changing the minor's body to correspond to a sex that is discordant with the minor's biological sex," according to a summary from the nonpartisan Legislative Reference Bureau.

There are no criminal penalties outlined in the legislation, but violations would result in a mandatory license revocation.

The legislation specifies several treatments that would be banned, and also lays out exceptions.

Under the bill, health care providers could not administer to minors:

• a surgery that results in sterilization

• a mastectomy

• puberty-blocking drugs

• testosterone for youth assigned female at birth

• estrogen for youth assigned male at birth

• removal of "any otherwise healthy or nondiseased body part or tissue"

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What has Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers said?

The bill makes exceptions for treatment administered "in accordance with a good faith medical decision of a parent or guardian of a minor born with a medically verifiable genetic disorder of sex development."

Tuesday's action sends the bill to Evers, who has vowed to "veto any bill that makes Wisconsin a less welcoming, less inclusive, and less safe place" for LGBTQ individuals.

Molly Beck can be reached at molly.beck@jrn.com.

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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Bill banning gender transition treatment for Wisconsin youth passes