Democrat lawmakers across the country are pushing an agenda to keep irreversible transgender care accessible, even to minors. In Colorado, Democrat Gov. Jared Polis signed bills creating a “safe haven” for abortion and transgender care, mainly for people from other states where these services are restricted. In Montana, a transgender lawmaker told Republicans that they have “blood on your hands” for drafting legislation that would restrict transgender care. And, the pro-transgender supporters refuse to acknowledge that there are adults who begin to gender transition and later regret, and have to go through the process of de-transitioning.
A bill under consideration in Oregon would require health-insurance plans to cover irreversible gender transition care while excluding de-transition care, according to a report this week from National Review.
The bill, H.B. 2002, requires Oregon health benefit plans to cover “gender-affirming treatment,” which includes hormone therapy treatment and surgery to help a person who has gender dysphoria align with their “gender identity” rather than their biological sex.
Republican state Rep. Ed Diehl pointed out to Democratic lawmakers that those who begin to transition and later regret it have to go through the process of de-transitioning. They have to obtain care that helps them undo their transition care to align with their biological sex.
Diehl reportedly filed an amendment to provide equal coverage for medical services for det-ransitioners. In an email to the outlet, Diehl said the Democrats “flatly rejected” his proposal and called it “controversial.”
“I left the clinic in November of last year because I could no longer participate in what was happening there. By the time I departed, I was certain that the way the American medical system is treating these patients is the opposite of the promise we make to ‘do no harm.’ Instead, we are permanently harming the vulnerable patients in our care,” Reed wrote in her piece for the outlet.
“The mental health of these kids was deeply concerning—there were diagnoses like schizophrenia, PTSD, bipolar disorder, and more. Often they were already on a fistful of pharmaceuticals,” Reed explained. “This was tragic, but unsurprising given the profound trauma some had been through. Yet no matter how much suffering or pain a child had endured, or how little treatment and love they had received, our doctors viewed gender transition—even with all the expense and hardship it entailed—as the solution.”
Overall, Reed said her experience at the clinic felt like “building the plane while we are flying it.”