The Louisiana House of Representatives and the state Senate on Tuesday overrode Democrat Gov. John Bel Edwards’ veto of a bill that makes offering so-called gender-affirming care to minors illegal. The bill will now become law and takes effect on January 1, 2024.
Both GOP-dominated bodies were able to achieve the required two-thirds majority, with the House voting 76-23 and the Senate 28-11.
The law will put an end to the disturbing practice of surgeries and hormone therapies for minors experiencing gender dysphoria who think they can change their sex. Despite what “the experts” tell you, the science on the benefits of these treatments is thin, and there are many drawbacks .
But the kids in Louisiana will be a little safer in 2024:
The law will bar those under 18 in Louisiana from receiving gender-affirming surgeries, puberty blocking medications and hormone treatments, and punishes health care professionals that provide them with the revocation of their license for a minimum of two years.
Doctors who began providing such drug or hormone therapy to a minor before January 1, 2024, are allowed to continue providing care through December 1, 2024, if they determine that “immediately terminating the minor’s use of the drug or hormone would cause harm to the minor.”
The governor was not happy with the slapdown and said in a statement Tuesday evening:
In eight years as a Democratic governor with a Republican legislature, I have issued 319 vetoes. More than 99% of those vetoes have been sustained. Usually, we have been able to find common ground to move Louisiana forward, and I am thankful to the legislature for all the good we have accomplished together. But we have also had profound disagreements. ..
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. I expect the courts to throw out this unconstitutional bill, as well.
First off, on what grounds would the courts throw this bill out? Is he saying that he thinks it’s unconstitutional to forbid unnecessary, experimental, life-changing surgeries on kids? If you can’t call that a crime, can you call anything a crime?
Secondly, his contention that the bill “needlessly harms a very small population of vulnerable children” is bananas. We’re talking about people who in many cases aren’t old enough to drive, vote, have a beer or get a tattoo, but suddenly they’re wise enough to make decisions that will have repercussions for the rest of their days?
Not only does this bill not harm minors, but it protects them.
Louisiana joins a number of states who have woken up to what’s happening to their kids:
Laws restricting the procedures for minors have spread across the country, with 17 states besides Louisiana so far this year placing their own laws on the books – though the legality of such bans is under intense scrutiny as federal judges last month temporary blocked laws in Tennessee, Indiana and Kentucky, while a 2021 law in Arkansas was struck down outright and deemed unconstitutional.
Democratic governors have pushed back on Republican-led efforts to restrict the treatments with varying degrees of success – Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly successfully blocked a ban while state lawmakers overrode Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear’s veto.
Good for Louisiana and all the other state legislatures. Sex surgeries on minors aren’t only immoral, they’re not supported by science, much less common sense. Now we just have to hope some woke court doesn’t overturn this law.