State Sen. Amanda Chase (R) proposed a bill this week that would ban anyone under the age of 18 from receiving gender transition procedures.
The controversial state bill named the Save Adolescents From Experimentation (SAFE) Act was also introduced in Arkansas last year and was passed by the state Legislature. The law in the state of Arkansas makes it a felony to provide gender-transitioning procedures to minors.
Chase introduced the bill this week that prohibits gender transition procedures for minors, prohibits public funds for such procedures, and establishes enforcement for violation of the SAFE Act.
Although the bill was passed overwhelmingly in Arkansas, it hasn’t been an easy road for the legislation. Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson (R) vetoed the bill stating it was the product of the cultural war in America.
The bill eventually passed into law making Arkansas the first state in the union to ban gender transitioning procedures for minors. However, it is now held up in federal court with a litany of pushback from LGBTQ families and activists.
“We have to protect minors, regardless of the mental state of the parents. This is child abuse,” she told a local news station.
Despite her efforts to protect minors against life-altering procedures, the bill has been said to have little chance of passing through the Democrat-controlled Senate.
Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) has hinted that even if the bill made it through to him, he is ultimately committed to preserving parental rights.
Proponents of the SAFE Act say that there are permanent ramifications for allowing a child to undergo gender-transitioning treatments. Additionally, there is very little data available to see the long-term effects of the treatments.
Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge was the force behind Arkansas’s SAFE Act making its way through legislation.
“The SAFE Act protects children from permanent decisions that they may desire to make as an underage child but could regret as an adult,” Rutledge said. “Nothing about this law prohibits someone after the age of 18 from making this decision.”
Statistics (and testimonies) show that there is a large portion of transgender persons who regret their decision or never follow through with the full transition, but still have the lasting effects of the procedures potentially for the rest of their lives.
Detransitioner who was approved for cross-sex hormones after just 2 counseling sessions blasts doctors for transitioning minors.
"My issue with this is that they're allowing these things to happen to children… They can't make these decisions, they're children!" pic.twitter.com/0B6SoTNyaF
— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) November 28, 2022
The United Kingdom, Sweden, and Finland require a lengthy process of informed consent for minors seeking to transition, beginning with psychotherapy by qualified, highly-educated mental health professionals.
