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The Hill
9 hours ago
- Health
- The Hill
New Hampshire lawmakers give final approval to gender-affirming care ban
New Hampshire lawmakers on Thursday gave final approval to bills that would ban gender-affirming care for transgender minors in the state, sending the measures to Republican Gov. Kelly Ayotte, who has not yet said whether she will sign them. State lawmakers voted to pass House Bill 377, which would prohibit doctors from administering puberty blockers and hormones to transgender youth beginning next year. The measure includes a 'grandfather clause' that would allow minors already receiving care to continue doing so even after the law takes effect. The state House voted 202-161 in favor of the bill, with two Democrats, state Reps. Dale Girard and Jonah Wheeler, siding with Republicans. New Hampshire senators approved the bill Thursday in a 16-8 party-line vote. Lawmakers also voted to send House Bill 712 to Ayotte's desk. That measure, which builds on an existing law banning gender-affirming genital surgeries for minors, would bar children and teens under 18 from accessing additional surgical procedures when they are used to treat gender dysphoria, including facial feminization or masculinization surgery and what the bill calls 'transgender chest surgery.' It passed the House Thursday in a vote 191-163, with Wheeler again siding with Republicans to advance the measure. The state Senate passed the bill in another party-line vote. Passage of the bills, which, if signed, would make New Hampshire the first northeastern state to ban transition-related care for minors, comes roughly a week after the Supreme Court upheld a Tennessee law similarly preventing trans youth from being prescribed puberty blockers and hormones. Surgery for minors was not at issue before the court. New Hampshire state Rep. Lisa Mazur, a Republican and the prime sponsor of both bills, referenced the court's decision Thursday in her defense of the measures. 'It is now legal and constitutional for states to regulate and or ban the use of these harmful drugs in minors,' she said, the Boston Globe reported. Ayotte, a former U.S. senator who won New Hampshire's gubernatorial election in November, has not publicly said whether she plans to sign either bill, both of which were priorities for the state's Republican-led Legislature this session. Also headed to Ayotte's desk is House Bill 148, which would roll back some anti-discrimination protections for transgender people that the Legislature adopted in 2018. Her predecessor, Republican former Gov. Chris Sununu, vetoed a similar bill last year.
Yahoo
03-04-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Local legislator files universal bills
HIGH POINT — Rep. Cecil Brockman, D-Guilford, filed four bills Wednesday to extend universal coverage statewide over school meals, pre-kindergarten enrollment, health insurance coverage and baseline minimum personal income. Brockman, the lone High Point resident in the 170-member N.C. General Assembly, has some of the poorest areas in the state in his 60th House District. 'These issues are all near and dear to my heart because I've seen firsthand the disparities produced by all of these problems, and I am committed to addressing them at home and across the state,' Brockman said. Brockman faces the task of advancing the bills in a House chamber dominated by Republicans. 'These universal bills are common-sense legislation that will make a difference for those who have been neglected for too long,' he said. 'I call on all of my colleagues to join me in passing these bills and making North Carolina great for all of us.' The bills House Bill 712 would direct the N.C. Department of Commerce to establish and maintain a Pay-It-Forward Fund to provide a universal monthly income of up to $3,000 per person for up to five years to people who are currently receiving job training, performing volunteer work for 40 hours a week or both. The program would be funded in part by an increased income tax percentage for state residents who have previously benefited from the fund. House Bill 713 would establish a universal school breakfast and lunch program for each school to provide cost-free breakfast and lunch to each student every school day. House Bill 714 would direct the N.C. Commissioner of Insurance to establish and maintain a state-run universal health care benefit plan offering plans to residents with standards applicable to the federal Affordable Care Act. House Bill 715 would create a universal pre-kindergarten program at a cost of $13.3 million per year. pjohnson@ | 336-888-3528 | @HPEpaul
Yahoo
04-03-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Bills to ban gender-affirming breast surgery, hormone treatments for minors attract heated debate
House Bill 377 would make it a Class B felony to prescribe, administer, or supply puberty blockers or hormone replacement therapy to anyone under 18. (Photo by) When Jennifer Boisvert's son Luke told her at age 9 that he identifies as a boy, the transition process was simple: support her son, buy him his preferred clothes, and use his preferred pronouns. 'He's had months, years of counseling,' she said to lawmakers Monday. 'He's well rounded. He's a happy kid.' The more difficult process would come later. Luke Boisvert, now 13, does not produce sex hormones and has just one X chromosome, a condition known as Turner syndrome. That means he does not need puberty blockers — but he does need hormone treatment, either in the form of testosterone or estrogen. 'My body physically cannot go through puberty on its own,' Luke Boisvert testified Monday. 'Because of this, I need to take one of the hormones so I can go through puberty. I would prefer to take testosterone, of course, because it fits what I want to look like, sound like, feel like, and who I am: a boy.' The Boisverts, who live in Nashua, are moving forward with a process and a team at Massachusetts General Hospital. But proposed legislation in the state would bar such practice of hormone therapy in New Hampshire — and threaten felony charges. IF YOU OR SOMEONE YOU KNOW is in a crisis, call, text or chat the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline at 988. To reach the New Hampshire Rapid Response Access Point, call or text 833-710-6477. If you need help with grief and loss, the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention offers advice and resources. You can also call the National SAMHSA Helpline, 1-800-662-HELP, with services in English and Spanish, toll free 24/7. In 2024, Gov. Chris Sununu signed into law a ban on certain gender-affirming surgeries for people under 18. But the ban did not apply to all types of surgeries, nor did it impact other treatments for transgender youth, such as puberty blockers and hormone replacement therapy. This year, Republican state lawmakers are seeking to ban those, too. A pair of bills to do so attracted heated, emotional testimony to the House Health, Human Services, and Elderly Affairs Committee Monday. House Bill 377 would make it a Class B felony to prescribe, administer, or supply puberty blockers or hormone replacement therapy to anyone under 18. And House Bill 712 would ban gender-affirming breast surgeries for minors, and limit the use of such surgeries to those needed to treat 'malignancy, injury, infection, or malformation.' The latter bill would not carry a felony charge but could open surgeons up to litigation for providing them. Republicans, inspired by national political trends, say the procedures should be banned until people are adults and can decide to undergo the treatments without parental consent. They argued that not enough is known about the long-term effects of the procedures and pointed to cases in which adults have expressed regrets for undergoing them as children. 'Children cannot fully comprehend the lifelong implications of altering their bodies with powerful medications,' said Rep. Lisa Mazur, a Goffstown Republican and the sponsor of HB 377. 'Yet we are witnessing a concerning trend where children, some as young as 3 years old, are being seen as patients in gender clinics.' Democrats and LGBTQ+ advocates, meanwhile, decried the bill as an attack on transgender people and said it would exacerbate gender dysphoria among transgender youth and could ultimately increase suicide attempts. Over hours, transgender teens and young adults testified to their own experiences, seeking to convince the committee not to recommend the bills. Gender-affirming surgeries for minors are rare, according to data from the National Institutes of Health. Puberty blockers and hormone therapy treatments are more common for that age group. But opponents of the bills say allowing both as options is crucial to give physicians the best tools to help struggling youth. 'All transgender young people in New Hampshire should be able to get the doctor-prescribed medical care they need,' said Linds Jakows, the co-founder of the advocacy group 603 Equality, in a statement Monday. 'Patients, families, and providers must be the ones making these decisions, not politicians.' Conservatives and other supporters of the bill had the opposite view, contending that the procedures are more likely to harm children than help them. Rep. Erica Layon, a Derry Republican, argued there should be better avenues to help transgender teenagers than to give them procedures that can be irreversible. 'It's not compassionate to give these to kids, and I ask that we stand up and we say that it's time to end this experiment and protect kids,' Layon said. The bills emerged after a 2024 election season in which transgender rights became a central flashpoint, as Republicans, including now-President Donald Trump, vowed to ban the procedures across the country. Supporters of the bill on Monday pointed to research indicating that hormone therapy and puberty blockers can carry long-term side effects and hamper bone growth and bone density. Advocates pushed back on the safety risks, with some citing a 2023 study in the New England Journal of Medicine showing increases in 'appearance congruence, positive affect, and life satisfaction' among teenagers and young people after two years of their transitioning. And transgender people said they disagreed that any risks justified banning the procedures. To many, puberty blockers and hormone therapy allowed them to finally realize their gender identity and shed the misery they had experienced before. 'There's been a lot of talk about regret and permanent, irreversible decisions, and let me start by saying that my biggest regret is not transitioning sooner,' said Savannah Griffin, a transgender woman from Bradford. When Griffin was 17, before she had come out, her severe depression caused her to drive her truck off the road in an attempted suicide. She survived, and began seeking therapy and taking antidepressants. Eventually, realizing the source of her pain, she began estrogen treatments at age 18. 'It's the best decision I've ever made,' she said. 'Six and a half months after starting the estrogen, I was able to quit the antidepressants. I've been as happy as I've ever been, and I go months without having suicidal thoughts at all, whereas before coming out it was daily.' 'As for irreversible changes, suicide is an extremely irreversible change,' Griffin said. The committee will make a recommendation on the bills in the coming weeks, after which they will head to the full 400-member House.
