Louisiana GOP overrides governor’s veto of 'needlessly' harmful gender-affirming care ban: report

18 July 2023

Days after Louisiana Democratic Governor John Bel Edwards vetoed a bill that would ban gender-affirming care for minors, state Republicans voted to override the governor's decision Tuesday, CNN reports.

Edwards wrote in his letter vetoing HB 648 July 1, "It is unfathomable to think that in my last few months serving as governor of this state that I would sign into law a bill that categorically denies health care for children and families based on propaganda and misinformation generated by national interest groups. I assessed the need for this bill based on Louisiana data and facts and read every word of this bill multiple times to determine if there was any possible merit to this bill. There is not."

CNN reports the legislation "would bar those under 18 in Louisiana from receiving gender-affirming surgeries, puberty blocking medications and hormone treatments, and punishes health care professionals that provide them with the revocation of their license for a minimum of two years."

According to the report, "Major medical associations say that gender-affirming care is clinically appropriate for children and adults with gender dysphoria – a psychological distress that may result when a person's gender identity and sex assigned at birth do not align, according to the American Psychiatric Association."

Although the veto was reversed by Republican lawmakers, "not all Republicans" back the legislation, including State Senator Fred Mills (R-LA), who said, I've always in my heart of hearts, believed that a decision should be made by a patient and a physician," CNN reports.

"This is extreme government overreach and a direct threat to the civil liberties and constitutional rights of all Louisianans," American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) Louisiana said. "We condemn today's override of HB648, and we will never stop fighting to protect the rights of transgender youth and their families."

The report notes, "Doctors who began providing such drug or hormone therapy to a minor before January 1, 2024, are allowed to continue providing care through December 1, 2024, if they determine that 'immediately terminating the minor's use of the drug or hormone would cause harm to the minor."

In a statement following the override, Edwards condemned the law as "a bill that needlessly harms a very small population of vulnerable children, their families, and their health care professionals."

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