Transgender rights advocates rally against HB 1570 outside the Arkansas state Capitol on March 18. (Photo courtesy Sydney Rasch/ACLU of Arkansas)
A bill criminalizing health care for trans youth is moving forward in Arkansas, and if signed into law, HB 1570 would be the first law of it’s kind in the nation, according to the ACLU of Arkansas.
An ACLU press release explained that HB 1570 would prohibit healthcare professionals from providing or even referring transgender teenagers for medically-necessary health care. This would “block young people from essential care and take away parents’ rights to make decisions about their children’s care.”
ACLU warns that if signed into law, HB 1570 would put vulnerable transgender youth at risk and undermine parents’ rights. It is, like all other trans health bans trending in legislatures around the country, “based on harmful misconceptions about gender affirming care,” and it is opposed by leading medical organizations, including the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Psychological Association, the American Psychiatric Association, the Pediatric Endocrinology Society, and the American Medical Association, among others.
Read more here at the ACLU of Arkansas website.
