Wednesday February 8, 2023
Health and Human Services
Room 1510 – 1:30 PM
SUPPORT: LB574
Introducer: Kauth – kkauth@leg.ne.gov
Description: Adopt the Let Them Grow Act
* If you cannot join us in person, please submit online testimony, comments must be submitted by Tuesday, February 7th at noon! *
View the bill and Submit online comments here: https://https://nebraskalegislature.gov/bills/view_bill.php?DocumentID=49961
ALSO Email the Health and Human Services Committee!!!!
Health and Human Services Committee Members:
Sen. Ben Hansen, Chairperson – bhansen@leg.ne.gov
Sen. Beau Ballard – bballaard@leg.ne.gov
Sen. Machaela Cavanaugh – mcavanaugh@leg.ne.gov
Sen. Jen Day – jday@leg.ne.gov
Sen. Brian Hardin – bhardin@leg.ne.gov
Sen. Merv Riepe – mriepe@leg.ne.gov
Sen. Lynne Walz – lwalz@leg.ne.gov
Talking Points:
We stand for medical freedom – to that end, we don’t allow minors to drink alcohol, or smoke cigarettes. It is perfectly reasonable to provide written guidelines that disallows permanent and detrimental biological effects to prepubescent minors.
The treatments, including pharmaceutical therapies and surgeries are often promoted without fully informed consent – highlighting only the ideas that promote affirmation of the sought out procedures.
It is often claimed that those who oppose transitional surgeries are bigoted and hateful. It is important to make it clear that what we oppose are irreversable therapies and treatments being done to minor children ill-equipped to make such life-altering decisions. The only goal at hand is to protect the innocence of children across the state of NE. Once a child is of legal age, their decisions are their own – whether another agrees with it, or not.
Additional Resources:
The Trevor Project and the following two studies were propositioned as the “proof” that LB574 is an overreach between the parents, child and medical professional. We are sharing these resources so that people can understand and form a response to the opposition.
https://pitt.substack.com/p/why-does-the-trevor-project-want
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41386-020-0666-3
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/02/200205084203.htm
More reading:
What is conversion therapy – https://www.glaad.org/conversiontherapy & https://www.nami.org/Advocacy/Policy-Priorities/Stopping-Harmful-Practices/Conversion-Therapy & https://www.apa.org/pi/lgbt/resources/policy/conversion-therapy-facts.pdf
Puberty blockers & hormone therapy: https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/gender-dysphoria/in-depth/pubertal-blockers/art-20459075 & (There is not a single long-term study to demonstrate the safety or efficacy of puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones and surgeries for transgender-believing youth. This means that youth transition is experimental, and therefore, parents cannot provide informed consent, nor can minors provide assent for these interventions. Moreover, the best long-term evidence we have among adults shows that medical intervention fails to reduce suicide.) https://acpeds.org/transgender-interventions-harm-children
Other states’ bans: As of March 2022, 15 states have restricted access to gender-affirming care or are currently considering laws that would do so. The bills carry severe penalties for health care providers, and sometimes families, who provide or seek out gender-affirming care for minors. This study estimates the number of transgender youth at risk of losing access to gender-affirming care under these bills.
https://williamsinstitute.law.ucla.edu/publications/bans-trans-youth-health-care/
https://www.cnn.com/2023/01/29/us/utah-governor-minors-transgender-care-ban/index.html
https://www.npr.org/2023/01/29/1152388859/utah-ban-gender-affirming-care-transgender-youth
https://www.wral.com/puberty-blockers-transgender-treatment-targeted-in-new-nc-bill/20700067/
