An Indiana bill banning medical transition procedures for the state’s transgender youth is just one step away from becoming law after the House of Representatives voted to pass it on Thursday.
Senate Bill 480, which passed the chamber with a 65-30 vote, now awaits the signature of Governor Eric Holcomb. Representatives Ed Clere, R-New Albany, and Jerry Torr, R-Carmel, were the only Republicans to join House Democrats in voting against the bill.
Holcomb hasn’t indicated if he’ll sign or veto it. When questioned about the bill on March 17, he said “In general, parents not only have a right to their children’s health and well-being, they, in fact, have the responsibility of it.”
Last year, Holcomb vetoed a bill banning transgender students from competing in girls school sports that has since become law after Republican legislators voted to override his action.
Young children seeking a gender transition typically do not receive any kind of medical intervention. Some transgender adolescents receive puberty blockers, which halt the development of the secondary sex characteristics associated with their biological sex, and hormone replacement therapy, which allows them to develop in a way that matches their gender identity. Genital surgeries as a part of gender-affirming care are typically only performed on adults.
Rep. Joanna King, who sponsored the legislation, framed the ban as a means of protecting the state’s children.
“I have the utmost compassion for these vulnerable children,” King, R-Middlebury, told the House. “That is why I believe there’s a pressing need to protect these children from irreversible harmful life-altering procedures.”
Rep. Julie McGuire, R-Indianapolis, cited a series of accounts from “detransitioners,” who underwent gender-affirming treatments and who later came to regret the decision.
House Democrats excoriated the bill as an attack on some of the state’s most marginalized residents.
“Today with SB 480 we’re sending a signal to a very specific group of Hoosiers, young people who are among our most vulnerable, our most isolated, our most likely to suffer from depression and suicidal thoughts,” said Rep. Blake Johnson, D-Indianapolis. “We say to them not that we’re here for them or that we hear them but rather that there is in fact something wrong with them. We signal that in the eyes of the state, this population must be forced to fit our narrow understanding of identity, our myopic interpretation of science, and a skewed version of the facts.”
Rep. Carey Hamilton, D-Indianapolis, told her colleagues that the bill would harm the state by forcing transgender youth and their families to seek new homes in states still friendly to their medical needs.
“Telling the country that we believe in parental rights for me, but not for thee, will not bode well for our economy,” she said. “SB 480 will drive away our workforce. SB 480 will drive away companies in emerging economic sectors looking for welcoming states with a strong talent pipeline. SB 480 tells our medical community (that) once again, their profession is under attack in our state. This will not serve our healthcare system well. Doctors will leave Indiana or choose not to come.”
Indiana is poised to join the 11 states that have so far enacted similar bans, according to data compiled by the Human Rights Campaign, an LGBTQ+ advocacy organization. Another 20 states are currently considering banning gender-affirming healthcare for minors.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
