SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Utah Republicans claimed its restriction on gender-affirming health care for children and teenagers in 2023 was necessary to guard sensitive children from procedures that would inflict long-term damage.
Years later, the findings of a study commissioned under the same law refute that assertion, and pressure on the Republican-led Legislature to review the limits is mounting.
Based on research of thousands of transgender people, Utah’s Department of Health and Human Services and specialists from the state’s top health institutions came to the conclusion that gender-affirming treatment produced “positive mental health and psychosocial functioning outcomes.”
Policies prohibiting minors’ access to hormone treatment cannot be justified only on scientific evidence or worries about possible future regret, the report says.
Regarding whether legislators should remove the statewide ban on hormone treatment and minor surgery, the government is not expressing an opinion. But it served as a reminder to legislators that the ban was meant to be temporary until the state could undertake independent investigation.
Among 27 states that have passed laws limiting or outlawing gender-affirming medical treatment for transgender youth, Utah is among those that Republican leaders have made a political lightning rod. Though a federal appeals court has halted the Florida ruling, federal judges have declared restrictions in Arkansas, Florida, and Montana as unconstitutional. Kansas law is not yet being followed.
While some Utah Republicans were quick to discount the results of the survey, others stated they were open to considering them.
The House author of the law prohibiting gender-affirming treatment and the chair of the Legislature’s interim health committee stated in a joint statement they “intend to keep the moratorium in place.”
The study ready for legislators admitted certain hazards connected to gender-affirming treatment, including a rise in some forms of benign brain tumors. However, experts underlined how well such therapies help transgender young people reduce their risk of suicide.
The study notes that patients seen at the gender clinic prior to the age of 18 had a decreased risk of suicide than those referred as an adult. People with gender dysphoria may suffer psychologically and socially when left untreated.
The Utah study runs counter to one released by the Trump administration earlier this month challenging generally recognized World Professional Association for Transgender Health treatment guidelines. Major medical groups said they were not contacted, and U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. withheld information regarding who wrote the study.
For children who find a discrepancy between their gender identification and their sex given at birth, Trump’s advice calls for more reliance on behavioral therapy than on medical interventions. Days into his second administration, Trump signed an executive order stating the federal government cannot assist anyone under the age of 19 with gender changes.
