“This is a transgression of the government.”
Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson passed a bill on Monday that would ban sex reassignment treatment for transgender youth in the state.
The Republican governor told a news conference with reporters that the intentions behind the “Save Adolescents from Experimentation (SAFE) Act” were well-intentioned, but natural.
The law prevents doctors from providing sex-enhancing health care to transgender minors, including hormones, puberty blockers and menopause-related surgeries.
Hutchinson said he has a problem with the bill that will affect patients currently being treated and how it will affect the mental health of the state’s youth.
“This is a government breach,” he told the news conference. “You’re starting to interfere with health care lawmakers and set a standard for health care-dominated legislation. The state should not presume to jump into every ethical health care decision.”
LGBTQ rights activists, medical professions and other groups have protested the bill because it was discriminatory and would lead to serious mental health problems for young people.
The Trevor Project, a non-profit organization focusing on suicide prevention among the LGBTQ community, said that half (52%) of transgender and non-binary youth have seriously considered suicide in the past year, compared to 40% of all LGBTQ youth respondents in 2020.
In a statement released Monday afternoon, Sam Brinton, the vice president of advocacy and government affairs for The Trevor Project, called the governor’s veto a “major victory for the transgender and non-binary youth of Arkansas.”
“We hope this action sends a message to other lawmakers across the country to consider similar bans on gender-confirming medical care, which will only result in endangering young lives,” Brinton said in the statement.
Hutchinson said the Republican Arkansas legislature may overrule his veto, but he called on state leaders to rethink the issue before taking action.
“Government under a conservative philosophy must be curtailed. This is an example where self-control is better than extensive actions that interfere with important relationships in our society,” Hutchinson told reporters.
The American Civil Liberties Union of Arkansas has said it will sue the state if the SAFE law is passed and encouraged voters to call their state leaders.
“This victory belongs to the thousands of Arkansans who have spoken out against this discriminatory bill, especially the young people, parents and pediatricians who have never stopped fighting this anti-trans attack,” the organization said. tweeted.
The SAFE Act is one of the many state bills introduced this year that, according to LGTBQ advocates, diminish the rights of transgender Americans. The Hutchinson government signed two bills during this session that, according to the Arkansas ACLU, discriminate against gender.
One bill allows medical doctors to refuse non-emergency medical treatment based on religious or moral objections, and the other prohibits transgender girls from participating in school sports teams that match their gender identity.
Asked on Monday whether he intends to sign the bills, Hutchinson said the bills are separate from the SAFE Act. For the treatment bill, the governor said the legislation is “in line with freedom”, while the sports bill addresses issues that ‘undermine women’s sport’.
ABC News’ Meredith Deliso contributed to this report.