Rep Gabe Firment (R) Grant Parish
A Grant Parish lawmaker proposes legislation to prevent minors from receiving transgender medical procedures. Pollock Republican state Representative Gabe Firment says sexual reassignment is a major undertaking and a decision best not left to juveniles to decide. He says his bill is about protecting them, “we do not allow minors to vote. They can’t enter into legal contracts. They can’t buy alcohol. They can’t buy cigarettes. So it really doesn’t make sense that we allow them to make these life-altering decisions, that often lead to very serious side effects.”
Firment’s House Bill 570 would prohibit a whole group of medical procedures for anyone under 18, IF the service is part of a gender transition. Firment says there are already numerous cases of young people who had that done and then regretted their decision. He says science & medical experts are in the process of changing their position on gender reassignment procedures. “Sweden has always been probably the most progressive transgender nation in the world, but they’ve completely reversed course when it comes to gender therapy. Last year they banned prescribing puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones to children under 18.”
Firment says there is little evidence of improved psychiatric outcomes after a person has had transgender surgery, so he thinks Louisiana should take steps to assure that minors don’t make a decision they may regret. “This phenomenon is especially prevalent in teenage girls that tends to stem from social media and peer pressure.”
Firment says there are also serious medical risks from these procedures, so these decisions should be left up to adults.
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