Wisconsin Senate OK's Gender-Affirming Care Ban, but Governor Pledges to Veto

The Wisconsin Senate Tuesday approved a bill banning gender-affirming care for trans minors, after the state Assembly did so last week — but Democratic Gov. Tony Evers has promised to veto the measure and any other anti-LGBTQ+ legislation.

All Republicans in the Senate voted for the bill, Assembly Bill 465, and all Democrats against it, for a final vote of 22-10. The vote in the Assembly was likewise along party lines. So the legislation now goes to Evers.

It would ban the administration of puberty blockers, hormones, or gender-confirming surgeries to minors for the purpose of gender transition. Genital surgery, however, is not performed on minors in Wisconsin and is not recommended for them anywhere. If the bill becomes law, doctors could lose their licenses for violation.

A coalition of health care groups had submitted a statement against the measure, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports. “Removing the ability for youth and their families to access this affirming care in Wisconsin will negatively impact these young people’s well-being,” it reads. “We stand with our patients and their families who seek individualized gender-affirming health care services and our trusted providers and care teams who provide this care. We also support the clinical guidelines that inform this care.”

The coalition consists of the Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin, the Wisconsin Medical Society, the Wisconsin chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics, the Medical College of Wisconsin, UW Health, and the Wisconsin section of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.

Others opposing the legislation include LGBTQ+ rights group Fair Wisconsin, Disability Rights Wisconsin, the Wisconsin Public Health Association, and the Wisconsin Association of Local Health Departments and Boards, the Journal Sentinel reports. The only organization that registered as a supporter of the bill is Wisconsin Family Action, a right-wing group.

Even though major Wisconsin and national health care associations support gender-affirming procedures for both youth and adults, state Sen. Duey Stroebel, a Republican, said there was no consensus on it.

“The science is far, far from settled,” said Stroebel, one of the bill’s authors, according to the Journal Sentinel. “Drugs and medical procedures — that’s going to make kids better?”

Evers has pledged to “veto any bill that makes Wisconsin a less welcoming, less inclusive, and less safe place” for LGBTQ+ people.

Twenty-two states have banned some or all gender-affirming care for trans youth. Some have been blocked or struck down by courts.

In addition to the gender-affirming care legislation, lawmakers have been considering two bills to bar transgender girls and women from female school sports teams — one dealing with K-12 public schools and the other with the University of Wisconsin system and technical colleges. They have passed the Assembly and are being debated in the Senate.

State Rep. Barbara Dittrich, a coauthor of the legislation, has claimed there are at least six trans athletes competing in high school sports in Wisconsin. But a Journal Sentinel investigation found there is no reliable data on the number of trans student athletes, so it rates Dittrich’s assertion as “mostly false.”

Twenty-three states have laws restricting trans participation in school sports. Again, some have been blocked by courts.

The Senate Tuesday also approved changes to abortion law. The law is currently in dispute; most clinics in Wisconsin ceased offering the procedure when the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade last year, and the state still had a 19^th-century law on the books banning most abortions. But a judge ruled a month ago that the law doesn’t apply, and Planned Parenthood locations resumed performing abortions. Litigation is still going on, though, and the ban could be revived.

The changes OK’d by the Senate include exceptions to the abortion ban if there is an ectopic pregnancy or if the pregnant person’s life is in danger. One bill “would also increase the maximum sentence for abortion providers from six years to 15 years,” the Journal Sentinel reports. “Other bills would require the state to give grants to Choose Life Wisconsin to distribute to pregnancy resource centers that advise against abortion and provide $5 million for organizations that help families seeking to adopt.”

These bills also face an uncertain future with Evers, who favors abortion rights.

Pictured, from left: Wisconsin Sen. Duey Stroebel and Gov. Tony Evers