Georgia Senate Advances Bills to Restrict Gender-Affirming Care with Some Democratic Support

Georgia's Senate passed two bills Monday that would ban most gender-affirming care for minors and people incarcerated in state prisons, mirroring moves by Republicans across states and a handful of executive orders by President Donald Trump targeting transgender people.

The chamber voted 34-19 for a bill that would ban puberty blockers and most gender-affirming care for people under 18, including those already undergoing treatment. Georgia lawmakers in 2023 banned most gender-affirming surgeries and hormone replacement therapies for transgender minors unless they were already receiving treatment. The law lets doctors prescribe puberty blockers.

"You're asking (minors) to make changes that will have changes to the rest of their lives," bill sponsor Republican Sen. Ben Watson, of Savannah, said Monday. "It is not a fair decision to them. It is not a fair decision to the parents."

A second bill sponsored by Senate Majority Whip Randy Robertson passed 37-15 and would ban most gender-affirming care for people incarcerated in state prisons.

Last month, the chamber passed bills to ban transgender people from playing in school sports and cut off public funding for gender-affirming care for adults. The four bills will now head to the House for debate.

Opponents said Republicans are playing politics by targeting transgender people and that lawmakers should focus on helping Georgians with more pressing issues such as housing and healthcare. They say both bills infringe on the rights of transgender people and their families to make decisions about gender-affirming care.

"This body has promulgated bill after bill attacking trans people with the ultimate goal of making trans fols disappear. We've been here before," said Senate Minority Whip Kim Jackson, a Stone Mountain Democrat who is openly lesbian.

At least 26 states have adopted laws restricting gender-affirming care for minors, and most are facing lawsuits. A study released in January found that fewer than 1 in 1,000 adolescents with commercial insurance during a five-year period received gender-affirming medications such as puberty blockers or hormones.

Jackson and other Democrats proposed a failed amendment to Watson's bill that would let minors receiving treatment keep going to avoid the medical and emotional ramifications of stopping midway.

Sens. Elena Parent and Sonya Halpern, both Atlanta Democrats, reaffirmed their commitment to protecting the rights of transgender people but broke with their party to vote for Robertson's bill because they said they do not think taxpayers should pay for gender-affirming care for people in prison. Parent proposed an amendment to make an exception for incarcerated people already undergoing hormone replacement therapy that failed.

"I will not let my party be dragged into an argument that makes us look out of touch with the very people we claim to represent," Halpern said.

Sen. Sally Harrell, an Atlanta Democrat who has two transgender children, took the stand toward the end of the evening.

"It felt like we were debating a political football instead of people," Harrell said of a debate on the school sports bill. "And so I came to this well to remind people that we are talking about very real people – parents, children, families."

Dawson Democrat Sen. Freddie Powell Sims voted for both bills. Four Democrats for the bill banning gender-affirming care for people in prison.

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Kramon is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues. Follow Kramon on X: @charlottekramon.