Sex-change surgeries for minors will now be prohibited in Louisiana, as Democrats in the state’s House joined with Republicans Tuesday to override the Democrat governor’s veto of the “Stop Harming Our Kids Act.”
The Louisiana state legislature, in which Republicans hold a supermajority, voted Tuesday to overturn Gov. John Bel Edwards’ veto of HB 648, which prohibits certain procedures that healthcare professionals can do to alter the sex of a child. In accordance with the bill, which will go into effect Jan. 1, 2024, doctors may not alter a child’s appearance in order for that child to more closely resemble his or her “gender identity.” A doctor that violates this law could lose his or her license to practice medicine in the state.
The state House of Representatives voted 75 to 23 to overturn the veto, with three Democrats voting with Republicans. The state Senate voted 28 to 11 to override the veto, with Republican
Sen. Fred Mills siding with Democrats. Mills had previously held up the legislation in committee, who argued that the decision of sex-changes for minors “should be made by a patient and a physician.”
This is the second successful override of a veto from Edwards, in a state that has a historically-low track record of overriding governor vetoes.
With the passage of the legislation, Louisiana becomes the 22nd state to pass restrictions on “gender-affirming care” for minors.
In a six-page statement explaining his veto, Edwards said the bill was at risk of hindering parents’ rights and denying care to a “small, unique, and vulnerable group of children.”
“(This bill) takes away parental rights to work with a physician to make important healthcare decisions for children experiencing a gender crisis that could quite literally save their lives. And, without doubt, it is part of a targeted assault on children that the bill itself deems not ‘normal,’” Edwards wrote.
Huge defeat for the child butchers. The ban on the sexual mutilation of minors in Louisiana will now become law after state legislators overturned the governor’s veto. Another enormous victory for Team Sanity. https://t.co/6jMMc7pyA2
— Matt Walsh (@MattWalshBlog) July 18, 2023
Stanley Goldfarb, Chairman of Do No Harm, lauded the legislature’s action in a statement to the Daily Caller. Do No Harm is an organization dedicated to keeping “radical, divisive, and discriminatory ideology” out of healthcare.
“We congratulate the legislature of Louisiana for overriding the governor’s veto and striking a blow for the safety of the youth of Louisiana,” Goldfarb said in his statement. “So-called gender-affirming care has now been rejected by multiple European nations that realize that it produces more harm than good. Louisiana joins these enlightened healthcare systems and strikes a blow for the scientific approach to medical care.”