Trans activists are warning that recent legislation banning gender-affirming care threatens an onslaught of devastating health complications and mental health struggles for transgender youth nationwide.
Teenage access to vital gender-affirming health care has been restricted or banned in 10 states: Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, Florida, Mississippi, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, West Virginia, and Kentucky. Legislators are introducing similar policies across the country in states like North Carolina and Missouri, and activists are warning restricted access to care has harmful implications that could endanger the lives of transgender youth.
“Every single major medical organization agrees that gender-affirming care is life-saving care and that this is medically necessary and sound treatment,” said American Civil Liberties Union transgender justice advocate Henry Seaton.
Gender-affirming care entails a wide range of procedures that include hormone therapy, genital surgeries, puberty blockers, and therapy, all of which have been proven to greatly reduce mental health crises among adolescents.
In a study published in American Medical Association’s journal JAMA Network Open, youth who received gender-affirming hormones or puberty blockers reported 60% lower chance of developing moderate or severe depression and reduced suicidality by 73%.
Read more at PrismReports.org.
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