Ohio Republican Senator JD Vance announced on Tuesday that he will introduce a bill banning individuals under 18 from accessing gender-affirming care.
Dubbed the “Protect Children’s Innocence Act,” the bill will charge providers with a federal class C felony, which is punishable with a prison sentence of 10 to 25 years.
Vance’s bill is similar to a bill of the same name introduced by Republican Rep. Marjorie-Taylor Greene earlier this year. Greene’s bill has yet to receive a vote.
Gender-affirming care is supported by every major medical organization in the United States. It has been shown to reduce the likelihood of moderate to severe depression by 60% and suicidality by 73% in trans and non-binary youth.
Dara Adkison, a board member with TransOhio — Ohio’s only statewide trans-led advocacy organization — highlighted that trans youth will grow into trans adults regardless of bills proposed by “hateful legislators.”
“Those medical choices, as with any other healthcare decisions, should be between those persons and their doctors, not those of a sordid few older men who are fixated on dictating the medical choices of others against internationally accepted best practice.,” Adkison said.
Ohio Rep. Gary Click (R-Vickery), the primary sponsor of Ohio’s ban on gender-affirming care, congratulated Vance on Twitter.
Vance’s bill would:
- Prohibit people from knowingly providing gender-affirming care to individuals under 18 (vasectomies and hysterectomies are included in the bill’s definition of gender-affirming care).
- Violation is classified as a federal Class C felony, which is punishable by 10-25 year prison sentences. .
- Prohibit the use of federal funds going towards gender-affirming care.
- Prohibit gender-affirming care from being provided in government-owned or operated healthcare facilities or facilities on government or tribal land or territory.
- Prohibit higher education facilities from teaching how to provide gender-affirming care.
- Make noncitizens who have provided someone under 18 with gender-affirming care ineligible to receive visas or admittance into the U.S.
The bill will face a Democrat-led Senate.
Vance’s bill comes as Republican-led state legislatures across the country have launched a series of attacks on gender-affirming healthcare. Twenty states have passed bans on gender-affirming care for minors and another seven are currently considering bills that would do the same.
Five of the states that have passed restrictions are unable to enforce them due to court injunctions.
Here in Ohio, HB 68 (Save Adolescents from Experimentation Act) has passed the House of Representatives and is waiting to be assigned to a Senate committee. The bill passed on a largely party-line vote, with two Republicans voting against.
If HB 68 is approved by a Senate committee, it will move to the Senate floor for a vote. If the Senate floor approves the bill, it will advance to the governor’s office for final signature of approval. 🔥
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