SPLC Action Fund Statement on Georgia Anti-Trans Youth Bill S.B. 140

ATLANTA — Today, the SPLC Action Fund released the following statement from Senior Supervising Attorney Beth Littrell in response to the advancement of S.B. 140  during a Georgia House Public Health Committee hearing yesterday. This bill prohibits hormone replacement therapy and surgical procedures for minors regardless of medical necessity, banning critical gender-affirming medical care for transgender youth. It also added a supplementary amendment to make criminals of doctors who offer medical care for trans youth.

“This bill is calculated to harm a vulnerable population for perceived political gain. It will protect neither children nor families. Instead, it is an outrageous and unnecessary intrusion into the sacred realms of family and medical decision-making, based only on falsities and fearmongering. Not only is it contrary to the view of the vast majority of medical professionals, but it is also contrary to the Constitution.”

The SPLC Action Fund joins numerous medical experts, such as the American Academy of Pediatrics, in urging the Georgia House of Representatives not to insert government into personal healthcare decisions that should be made by parents, children and their doctors.