Arkansas lawmakers enact transgender youth treatment ban
FILE - In this April 8, 2020 photo, Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson gives the State of the State in the senate chamber of the state Capitol in Little Rock, Ark. Hutchinson vetoed legislation that would have made his state the first to ban gender confirming treatments for transgender youth. (Tommy Metthe/Arkansas Democrat-Gazette via AP, File)
Published April 06. 2021 6:48PM
By ANDREW DeMILLO, Associated Press
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Arkansas lawmakers on Tuesday made the state the first to ban gender confirming treatments and surgery for transgender youth, enacting the prohibition over the governor's objections.
The Republican-controlled House and Senate voted to override GOP Gov. Asa Hutchinson's veto of the measure, which prohibits doctors from providing gender confirming hormone treatment, puberty blockers or surgery to anyone under 18 years old, or from referring them to other providers for the treatment.