N.H. lawmakers send bills banning gender-affirming care, surgeries for minors to Governor Kelly Ayotte
Advertisement
If the bills become law, New Hampshire would become the first state in New England to enact such bans, joining 25 other states across the country that have banned gender-affirming medication for young people, according to the
Get N.H. Morning Report
A weekday newsletter delivering the N.H. news you need to know right to your inbox.
Enter Email
Sign Up
New Hampshire was already one of two states to ban gender-affirming surgeries, along with Arizona. All other New England states have laws protecting access to this care, according to the project.
Proponents of the bans argue that children shouldn't access the treatments they view as harmful and irreversible, while opponents said the measure discriminates against transgender individuals and that medical decisions should be left to doctors and the families seeking care.
Advertisement
The approval of the bills comes on the heels of a US Supreme Court decision last week that upheld a similar ban in Tennessee on gender-affirming care, emboldening
'It is now legal and constitutional for states to regulate and or ban the use of these harmful drugs in minors,' said Representative Lisa Mazur, a Goffstown Republican and the prime sponsor of both bills.
But some attorneys disagree with that interpretation and contend there are still legal avenues for challenging the bans if they become law in New Hampshire. Potential challenges could focus on whether the law complies with New Hampshire's constitution, if it was intended to harm transgender youth, and whether it violates parental rights, according to Chris Erchull, senior staff attorney at GLBTQ Legal Advocates and Defenders.
Democrats in both the House and the Senate echoed similar concerns on Thursday ahead of votes that fell largely along party lines.
'We have heard time and time again this session, even on the previous bill, the parents should have the final say about their children and their child's health, and here we are taking away life saving health care options for all parents,' said Representative Alice Wade, a Dover Democrat and transgender woman, who choked back tears during an emotional speech on the House floor Thursday.
Wade said she has taken hormone therapy medication since 2018, but this bill would stop doctors from prescribing it to transgender youth, while allowing them to prescribe it to cisgender youth.
HB 377 explicitly allows children with a '
Advertisement
'That is not parental rights,' said Wade. 'It's just discrimination, plain and simple.'
Governor Kelly Ayotte has not said whether she will sign the bills.
Amanda Gokee can be reached at
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
E&E News
28 minutes ago
- E&E News
GOP releases megabill text with land sales, tax credit rollbacks
The Senate released new megabill text overnight with stricter treatment for renewable energy incentives from the Democrats' climate law — a major blow to companies and some lawmakers lobbying for more leniency. The updated legislation also includes Senate Energy and Natural Resources Chair Mike Lee's latest plan to sell certain federal public land for housing. The new Senate Finance Committee text looks a lot more like the House-passed bill when it comes to an array of contested tax credits. Advertisement It would drastically phase out wind and solar credits while maintaining incentives for Republican-friendly energy sources like nuclear and geothermal. Specifically, the bill would cut off incentives for projects that aren't 'placed in service' — or plugged into the grid — by the end of 2028. That's more aggressive than the previous Senate draft that preserved those credits for projects that merely 'start construction' by the end of the year. On the other hand, the legislation has a notable victory for hydrogen. It would extend incentives for clean hydrogen production to 2028, instead of eliminating them this year, as the previous Senate version proposed. Some provisions stayed the same. Senators kept credits for non-carbon energy sources, including nuclear, hydropower and geothermal, for projects that start construction by 2033. Senators also kept 'transferability,' which allows project sponsors to transfer credits to a third party. And the new language largely kept provisions barring companies from using materials from China or other adversary nations, while moving some deadlines for compliance sooner. The Senate parliamentarian was reviewing at least portions of this section. Companies were hoping for more lenient treatment to allow supply chains to develop. Senators continued to target wind turbines and their parts, which would no longer receive advanced manufacturing tax credits by 2028. Critical mineral incentives would be phased out, as well, except for metallurgical coal. The bill proposes moving the end of the electric vehicle tax credits to Sept. 30, up from the six-month timeline previously proposed, while credits for charging infrastructure would end in June 2026. Negotiators added a new bonus tax incentive for certain advanced nuclear power facilities built in areas with significant nuclear industry employment. A number of House and Senate defenders of the climate law credits, under intense lobbying from companies, were looking to make sure renewable energy projects had more time to benefit. But conservatives and President Donald Trump fought in the opposite direction. Public lands Lee's latest proposal would order the sale of up to 0.5 percent of Bureau of Land Management land across 11 states. Only lands that fall within five miles of a population center would be eligible, and protected lands excluded. The parliamentarian had ruled an earlier land sales plan ineligible for passage by simple majority under the budget reconciliation process. She had yet to rule on Lee's new framework Friday night. The updated text would set aside money from each sale for hunting, fishing and recreational amenities. That after outdoor advocates on the right expressed concern. Still, a number of Republican lawmakers in both chambers have balked at any public land sale plan in the megabill and would push to strip it before final passage. Other provisions The Energy and Natural Resources portion of the budget reconciliation package would still claw back Department of Energy money from the Inflation Reduction Act. However, it would expand to $1 billion a new energy dominance loan program. Energy Secretary Chris Wright had lobbied for loan office funding, particularly for nuclear projects. The broader legislation includes other IRA spending rollbacks, a decade-long delay of the methane fee and zero fees on automakers for not complying with the Department of Transportation's Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards. The megabill would mandate oil and gas lease sales onshore and offshore, including in Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. The state would increasingly share the revenues from development there. Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) has been a holdout on several big ticket items during the negotiations, particularly related to Medicaid cuts.
The Hill
32 minutes ago
- The Hill
Revised Senate bill includes updated Lee language to sell public lands
The 940-page bill Senate Republican leaders unveiled Friday night to implement President Trump's agenda includes a section pushed by Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) to sell public lands, although a smaller amount of land than was in a provision rejected earlier in the week by Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough. The updated language in the bill directs the secretary of the Interior Department to select for sale not less than 0.25 percent and not more than 0.50 percent of the Bureau of Land Management's land with certain restrictions. The Interior secretary would be directed to 'dispose' of land that has the 'highest value,' is nominated for sale by state and local governments, is adjacent to existing developed areas, has access to existing infrastructure and is suitable for residential housing. Any land sold by the Interior Department must be used solely for the development of housing or to build infrastructure to support housing. Federally protected land including national monuments, national recreation areas, components of national wilderness and components of national wild and scenic rivers would be excluded from sale. Interior would not be allowed to sell public lands located more than five miles from the border of a population center of at least 1,000 people. The revised language reduces the amount of land the Interior Department would be allowed to sell compared to legislation Lee unveiled earlier this month. The earlier text directed the Interior secretary to select between 0.5 percent and 0.75 percent of Bureau of Land Management land for sale. The Senate parliamentarian on Monday ruled that the original language mandating the sale of millions of acres of public land from both the Bureau of Land Management and the U.S. Forest Service violated the Byrd Rule. The Byrd Rule determines what legislation is eligible to be protected from a filibuster and allowed to pass the Senate with a simple-majority vote. Provisions must be primarily budgetary in nature to comply with the Byrd Rule. The provisions would apply to public lands in Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington and Wyoming. The issue is controversial, even among Republicans. Five House Republicans this week said they would vote against the bill if the provision remained in it when it came back to the lower chamber. Senate Republicans are racing to pass the Trump agenda megabill this weekend despite a number of uncertainties. Leadership had hoped to hold a vote Saturday but the timing remains fluid.
New York Post
37 minutes ago
- New York Post
Electing socialist Zohran Mamdani NYC mayor would spur cop exodus, rising crime: experts
A New York City led by socialist Zohran Mamdani will mean a two-pronged breakdown of public safety — crime spiraling out of control, and NYPD officers leaving en masse — experts and veteran cops say. Critics of the Democratic mayoral nominee and frontrunner heading into November's general election aren't buying Mamdani's 11th-hour vow that he won't 'defund the police' or shrink the NYPD's workforce if elected — a reversal of of his longstanding positions. Instead, they believe the U-turn during the final weeks of his primary campaign was just a craven political move to score votes with undecided voters. 'The city would be totally unsafe for people who live here,' predicted Scott Munro, president of the NYPD Detectives' Endowment Association. Advertisement 'I go to bed and worry about the phone ringing. I'm worried about my members getting killed. I don't want to plan any funerals,' he added. 7 A New York City led by socialist Zohran Mamdani (pictured) would mean public safety spiraling out of control with crime rising and NYPD officers leaving in masses, experts and veteran cops told The Post. Christopher Sadowski 'If you put a guy like him in there, our people are going to get hurt, and nobody's going to want the job. It's going to put recruitment back five more steps,' Munro said. Advertisement NYPD brass are quietly bracing for a potential mass exodus unless Mayor Adams, a Democrat and retired NYPD captain seeking re-election as an independent, or GOP mayoral nominee Curtis Sliwa, pull off an upset. 7 Fare beating in subways and other low-level lawlessness would all but be ignored under a Mamdani administration, many law-enforcement experts contend. Christopher Sadowski 'I've had guys call me and say 'If he wins, I'm quitting,'' a police source said of Mamdani. 'It's just weird that New York City would vote for him. I know he's not here for the police.' An NYPD officer planning to soon retire after nearly two decades on the job said the city's predominantly far-left leadership — especially on the City Council — already favors criminals over cops, and he believes such sentiment would grow worse under Mamdani. Advertisement 7 Mamdani a long history of calling for huge cuts to the NYPD but he now claims he has no plans to shrink the police force. 'This guy thinks the entire NYPD is racist,' the veteran said. 'I think right now the department is more diverse than it ever was before. I don't think this guy has even stepped foot in a precinct. He's completely clueless to what the police department is today. He's just going off a narrative that if you hate cops you're going to get elected.' 7 Mamdani won Tuesday's Democratic mayoral primary. Paul Martinka Advertisement Mamdani's far-left platform doesn't include hiring more cops, a vow most other mayoral candidates made. Instead, he wants to create a new Department of Community Safety that operates separately from the Police Department. It would dramatically expand so-called 'violence interrupter programs' and mental health teams that respond to 911 calls — especially in the city's subway system, where violent attacks by unhinged homeless people have been commonplace. 'He's trying to take the existing Police Department and turn them into social workers,' said Sliwa, founder of the Guardian Angels. 'He wants to . . . neuter the Police Department. 'Cops would not be able to function as they have taken their solemn oath to do, to protect us, to go out there and grab those who are committing crimes and to have them locked up,' Sliwa added. 'He has a weird notion of how policing is, as if it should be people like Mahatma Gandhi walking around, you know, functioning as a social worker. That does not work.' Under Adams' NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch, who Mamdani has said he'd consider retaining if elected, major crimes – including homicides, robberies and shootings — are down 2% to date compared to last year and 8% since 2019. A longtime NYPD detective said he envisions the Big Apple under Mamdani's leadership morphing into a crime-ridden 'Gotham City' — straight out of 'Batman.' 7 Mamdani doesn't want NYPD cops dealing with the homeless in most situations — including those who are violent. Stephen Yang Advertisement The detective also said it is 'hypocritical' of Mamdani to accept round-the-clock, police-detail protection as a mayoral candidate while clearly disliking the NYPD. 'You have police protecting you, but you don't want to protect the people of New York City?' he said. 7 Former Mayor Bill de Blasio said he believes Mandani has been unfairly 'demonized' as anti-NYPD. Robert Miller However, far-left ex-NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio said he believes Mamdani has been unfairly 'demonized' during the campaign – especially by ex-Gov. and mayoral candidate Andrew Cuomo — and that New Yorkers shouldn't expect mass lawlessness under the 33-year-old socialist pol. Advertisement 'He wants to keep the city safe,' de Blasio insisted to The Post. 'He understands as a local elected official how important public safety is to people, and it's not going to help him achieve his economic agenda if the city isn't safe. 'He has a chance to choose a leader who shares his vision of getting more mental healthcare work done by healthcare professionals, rather than police officers,' added the ex-mayor, an avid Mamdani backer. 'I think a lot of police officers would agree with that. 7 Scott Munro, president of the NYPD Detectives' Endowment Association, said he believes there could be a mass exodus of cops leaving the NYPD if Mamdani is mayor. 'Nobody will take the job,' he said. Helayne Seidman Advertisement Mamdani did not return messages. Hank Sheinkopf, a longtime consultant of Democratic campaigns and law-enforcement agencies, said he's not buying Mamdani's claim that he won't gut the NYPD if elected mayor. 'His supporters say' he'll defund the police, said Sheinkopf. 'That's who he is, and that's what's gonna happen, and we can't afford to lose a single cop. If this guy gets in power, we're gonna lose a lot of cops.'
