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Democratic Rep. Sarah McBride is receiving the credit for lobbying a handful of Republicans to vote against a bill banning gender-affirming care for youth.
Sarah McBride successfully lobbied a handful of Republicans to vote against a ban on gender-affirming care for youth.
Democratic Rep. Sarah McBride is receiving the credit for lobbying a handful of Republicans to vote against a bill banning gender-affirming care for youth.
The first out transgender member of Congress reportedly spoke to the few Republicans who would oppose the measure ahead of Wednesday's vote. Rep. Becca Balint, an Equality Caucus co-chair alongside McBride, told NOTUS that the group was "looking at names, we were figuring out who had relationships with whom, and then each of us had separate conversations and then we would huddle back up and share information.”
“We’re most interested in the caucus, right? But we also suspected we might lose some Democrats, which is why Sarah was like, ‘Look, I’ll pick up votes wherever I can,’” Balint said, adding that McBride "takes her work very seriously, she will talk to anyone."
The House on Wednesday approved the bill, which would impose felony penalties of up to 10 years in prison on physicians who provide puberty blockers, hormone therapy, or surgical care to patients under 18 for the purpose of gender transition. Introduced by Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, the bill would also expose parents and others who consent to or help minors access that care to criminal liability.
The legislation passed by a vote of 216 to 211. As McBride and Balint predicted, three Democrats — Texas Reps. Henry Cuellar and Vicente Gonzalez, and North Carolina Rep. Don Davis — voted in favor of the bill. However, they were successful in pushing four Republicans to vote against: Pennsylvania Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, New York Rep. Mike Lawler, Utah Rep. Mike Kennedy, and Colorado Rep. Gabe Evans.
McBride has not publicly spoken about her conversations with the Republican representatives, but criticized the GOP while speaking on the steps of the Capitol ahead of the vote, saying that “they would rather have us focus in and debate a misunderstood and vulnerable one percent of the population instead of focusing on the fact that they are gutting everyone’s health care in order to pay for tax breaks for the wealthiest one percent."
“We are two legislative days away from the Affordable Care Act tax credits expiring, when millions of people will see their health care premiums skyrocket," McBride said. "And GOP leadership ... has decided to schedule two votes on anti-trans bills and precisely zero votes on extending the Affordable Care Act tax credits."
“All Republican politicians care about is making the rich richer and attacking trans people,” she added. “They are obsessed with trans people. I actually think they think more about trans people than trans people think about trans people.”
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