ATLANTA (Georgia Recorder) — A ban on puberty-blocking medications for transgender minors was the subject of an unexpected compromise at a House committee meeting Thursday.
The bill no longer bans the medications, but it makes them harder to get.
“My thought process is that it certainly allows gender dysphoria to be treated with puberty blockers,” said Savannah Republican Sen. Ben Watson, author of Senate Bill 30, which originally did not allow gender dysphoria to be treated with puberty blockers.
“I think that, on minors, that’s the wrong thing to do,” he added. “But I’ll tell you, I’m sort of trying to be the bigger person here and allow this bill to move, so I would not try to delay it, and I would not suggest any changes – unless we want to go back to the original bill.”
Marietta Republican Rep. Sharon Cooper, chair of the House Public and Community Health Committee, said Watson’s original bill was not an option.
“Thank you very much, senator, as I told you outside, the bill that is up for decision today is not your previous version. The only thing we will be voting on is the one that we have as a substitute to Senate Bill 30,” Cooper said.
Tensions appeared to run high between Cooper and Watson the last time this bill was before her committee.
Watson, who is a physician, argued that puberty blockers can have dangerous side effects and children are better off without them. Mainstream medical organizations recommend them as part of treatment for gender dysphoria.
Under the version that passed committee, the child could be prescribed puberty blockers only by a licensed physician who is board certified in pediatrics and either pediatric endocrinology or adolescent medicine and diagnosed by two independent behavioral health professionals including one licensed psychiatrist and one licensed psychiatrist or psychologist.
Before that could happen, both of the child’s parents would need to sign a form listing the potential risks of puberty blockers, and if they cannot agree, they would need to seek a court order.
In addition, children undergoing hormone therapy would need to attend regular counseling, and doctors who provide it would need to submit treatment progress reports to the Georgia Composite Medical Board.
Cooper characterized the measure as a compromise between those who want transgender children to have access to the treatments subject to their doctors’ and parents’ agreement and those who want them totally banned.
“I think that we should be fair about stating that this is not a one-sided thing,” she said to Watson. “There’s two sides to it, and in the middle, a family is caught, and I will say, as a Republican, we push parental involvement, it’s sort of our mantra, and as you know, if you remember, you agreed last time that they shouldn’t have any choice in this, and I think a lot of us are just having some trouble about that sort of dictatorial thing.”
“I will respectfully disagree,” Watson said.
“OK,” Cooper replied. “I appreciate it being respectful.”
Some transgender Georgians, parents and health providers said they did not see the alteration as a victory. Elizabeth Downey, a registered nurse and mom of a transgender daughter, said the requirements could be onerous, especially for families that may have to travel long distances to reach the kind of specialists needed under the bill.
Downey said the constant stream of bills aimed at transgender Georgians, especially youths, make her daughter, who is otherwise thriving in school and happy with her identity, feel targeted.
“My daughter just wants to live her life,” Downey said. “She wants to go to school every day. She wants to play with her friends on the weekend. She wants to participate on sports teams with her friends, and these constant attacks on who she is as a person and the scrutiny that it brings on her life and in our family’s life every single day is harmful. She is a target every single day without people realizing it just because she is who she is.”
Speaking to the Recorder after the vote, Cooper said she thinks the committee came to a good compromise.
“I agree with people that say that when both sides are not happy, that probably it’s a good compromise, and that you can tell exactly from the crowd today, both sides were not happy,” Cooper said. “But, you know, it’s not really about either side. It’s really looking at the situation and just doing the best you can do.”
The bill must go back to the Senate before it can come to the House for final passage. The final day of the legislative session is April 4.
