There’s a bill that just passed the Georgia House called SB 140 that stops doctors from providing hormones or some gender-affirming care surgeries to people under the age of 18. According to representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, the bill doesn’t go far enough.
Greene took to her soapbox today to bemoan the bill and “end the horrific practice of genital mutilation of children.” She called the bill “deeply flawed.”
Before we get into the words of a woman who apparently doesn’t know that the Ukraine is in Europe, let’s take a closer look at the bill. Republican lawmakers claim that the bill isn’t intended to harm trans children, but to stop them from doing something they’ll later regret.
Minors who are already on hormones after being diagnosed with gender dysphoria can continue doing so, and puberty blockers are also allowed. Hence, Greene says the bill isn’t tough enough. She’s worried that Georgia will fall behind Alabama, Tennessee, and Mississippi… in blocking rights for trans people seeking medical care, apparently.
The bill has “vague language,” she said, that could “make it easily thrown out in courts.” Or, “end up being cited as precedent leading to other state’s stronger laws being challenged and removed.” As for puberty blockers, they “permanently alter the bodies of these confused children.”
Since this is Greene and she lies constantly, it’s important to point out that puberty blockers are not permanent, and are approved by the The U.S. Food and Drug Administration, per St. Louis Children’s Hospital.
She also has an issue with “profiteering doctors” who are “ready to cut off the breasts of girls and castrate boys.” Just take a look at that language she’s using. It’s fear-mongering and inaccurate, oversimplifies important medical issues, and speaks to the lowest common denominator. Regardless of how you feel, these are medical procedures not back-alley basement surgeries done by pirates.
This idea that doctors are somehow trying to force children to change their gender so they can make money is based in zero fact. It’s just peddling bottom-of-the-barrel, elementary talking points that only serve to create division and stifle conversation.
You can read her whole diatribe above, but you get the gist. Opponents of the bill, like fellow Georgia rep Karla Drenner (D-Avondale Estates), say the bill ignores science over emotion.
“There is absolutely no academic rigor associated with anything in these findings,” Drenner said, per CBS News. “I believe that you mean well, but this is wrong.”
Katie Leikam, a Decatur-based psychotherapist and gender specialist who diagnoses gender dysphoria, said a bill like SB 140 will do more harm than good.
“I’m concerned that trans kids are gonna start self-harming or have suicidal ideations more than they already do. I’m concerned that people will die. It sets a really bad standard for doctors, surgeons, and mental health professionals. That is a pendulum that is gonna be swung in Georgia that can swing either way.”
Several trans youth spoke to the GOP-controlled house committee passing the bill, like 18-year-old Leonardo Hinnant. Hinnant started hormone therapy at 13 and had a full mastectomy at 15. Per the Georgia Recorder:
“Although I could greatly explain the positive impact that transitioning has had on my life, I think that it’s more important for me to talk about if I hadn’t received that care. These life saving treatments are the reason that I am able to speak to you today. I would not be able to attend college. My little brother would not have someone to bother every single day. I would not be here. This bill would restrict essential care for transgender minors, care that I know is the reason that I am living today. The reality of it is this: if this bill passes, transgender kids will die.”
Greene also has an issue with a provision in the bill that protects doctors from civil or criminal charges when a procedure is medically necessary. “This means any doctor who is ready to put a child under the knife and perform permanent life-altering surgery simply has to claim it was ‘necessary’ to complete the barbaric procedure,” Greene said.
At the last minute, Columbia Republican Rep. Jodi Lott removed that language in an amendment.
The bill still has a ways to go. It needs to pass the House Rules Committee and then go back to the full House, and then the Senate. We’ll keep you posted on Georgia’s continuous slide into the dark ages.