Texas Governor Greg Abbott Signed legislation that prohibits medical treatment for minors under the age of 18 who want to begin sex change treatmentThus making his state the largest in the United States to enact this type of ban, however, legislation will be sought by activists.
Abbott, a Republican, appears to be following in the footsteps of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who signed a similar bill in May of this year.
These laws would have a major impact, as Texas and Florida are the second and third most populous states in the United States, respectively.
More than a dozen states run mostly by Republicans are known have passed similar restrictions in recent months.
for his part, The signed law will go into effect on September 1 And it would ban doctors from prescribing hormone blockers or performing gender transition surgery to children under 18.
however, The law includes an exception for minors previously receiving puberty blockers or hormone therapy, But it requires that they stop taking the prescribed medication “for a period of time and in a safe and medically appropriate manner.”
Transgender rights have become a complex issue in American politics, Democrats denounce that measures approved by Texas and Florida violate fundamental rightsApart from this, the rules have also been condemned by several NGOs.
In March, US President Joe Biden called for the removal of these rules, which he called an “assault”, and also denounced them as “un-American”.
The American Civil Liberties Union of Texas announced via its Twitter account that it would be filing a lawsuit against the state ban, writing, “Abbott can’t stop trans youth from thriving in Texas, and we need to take him to court to make sure he does.” Will go.”
According to a survey conducted by the Trevor Project, an NGO dedicated to suicide prevention among LGBTQ+ youth, “more than half of transgender and non-binary youth in Texas thought about suicide in 2022”, one of the reasons was Violation of their rights.
(tags to translate)transgender
