On Tuesday, Louisiana lawmakers overturned Democratic Gov. John Bel Edwards’ recent veto of a ban prohibiting experimental, irreversible transgender care for minors.
The ban will go into effect Jan. 1, 2024, according to the Associated Press. It will apply to hormone therapy treatments, puberty blockers, and irreversible sex reassignment surgeries for children.
🚨🚨BREAKING: The Louisiana House of Reps just voted 75-23 to override Gov. John Bel Edwards' veto on the bill to ban child sex change procedures!
— Greg Price (@greg_price11) July 18, 2023
Six Democrats joined with every Republican to vote in favor.
In a statement, Edwards said that only two of his vetoes have been overridden, the trans care bill for minors being one of them.
“Today, I was overridden for the second time, on my veto of a bill that needlessly harms a very small population of vulnerable children, their families, and their health care professionals,” he wrote, adding that “I expect the courts to throw out this unconstitutional bill, as well.”
See below for a statement from Governor John Bel Edwards on the conclusion of the 2023 veto session. To read the governor’s full six-page veto letter on HB648, click here (https://t.co/qOXtq01dnD). pic.twitter.com/GIzvkX9H8K
— Gov. John Bel Edwards (@LouisianaGov) July 18, 2023
In a statement, the American Civil Liberties Union claimed that “lawmakers who voted to overturn Governor Edwards’ veto of House Bill 648 have chosen to sacrifice the health and safety of Louisiana’s transgender children and undermine the rights of their parents.”
Over 20 states have passed laws restricting or prohibiting transgender care for minors. Some states are facing lawsuits from pro-transgender organizations over the laws.
This week, reports broke that a woman in North Carolina will sue the doctors who put her on testosterone at age 17 and surgically removed her breasts a year later. The woman, Prisha Mosley, 25, was given “gender-affirming care” after consultations that lasted “only minutes,” according to Daily Mail.
In her lawsuit, Mosley reportedly explained that her doctors “lied,” and told her that taking testosterone would solve her mental health problems and make her “grow a penis.”
“They lied when they told Mosley she was actually a boy; they lied when they told her that injecting testosterone into her body would solve her numerous, profound mental and psychological health problems,” the complaint said. “They lied by omission, withholding critical information from her about the long-term adverse health consequences and permanent damage these treatments would cause her, and failing to inform her of alternative courses of treatment for her psychological problems.”