Gender-affirming care involves a variety of health providers, from mental health professionals to primary care pediatricians to endocrinologists.
Some states limit access to care for people as old as 26 years.
All but threeof those states enacted bans this year, leavingnearly 78,000transgender youth without local access to care.
As of June, seven more states are considering gender-affirming care bans, according to the Human Rights Campaign.
Its a felony crime to provide gender-affirming care to minors in five states.
In other places, state licensing boards can discipline providers and rescind their medical licenses.
But often vague laws can also cause confusion among health professionals providing routine care.
Montana lawmakers signed a gender-affirming care ban in April that will go into effect in October.
I take care of a lot of trans youth if they happen to need to be hospitalized.
Gender-affirming care teams often involve multiple health professionals, including psychiatrists, endocrinologists, pediatricians, and more.
Bowers
We’re not looking for new members.
We’re just looking for better conditions to live in.
That has an effect on the cisgender population as well.
Those same puberty blockers are sometimes used to provide care to trans youth.
Surgical bans could also make it difficult to get certain reconstructive surgery unrelated to gender dysphoria.
That includes breast reductions for young men withgynecomastia, or overgrowth of breast tissue.
The talk is so much about surgical care.
Besides, losing health providers makes access to care more challenging for everyone.
Gender diversitydiversity periodadds brightness to this world, Bowers said.
Don’t put out the flame.
2018;15(1):48-59. doi:10.1007/s13178-017-0295-8
