Utah‘s ban on gender-affirming care for transgender youth was meant to be a moratorium, giving lawmakers the chance to reevaluate the policy once experts reviewed research on the impacts of treatment.
This week, nearly 2 ½ years after the law took effect, lawmakers received the findings of that study.
Utah health care experts concluded, in a more than 1,000-page report, “Overall, there were positive mental health and psychosocial functioning outcomes” as a result of gender-affirming care. But some Republican legislators are already dismissing those findings.
“Young kids and teenagers should not be making life-altering medical decisions based on weak evidence,” Rep. Katy Hall, R-South Ogden, the House sponsor of the 2023 ban, and Rep. Bridger Bolinder, R-Grantsville, who chairs the Legislature’s Health and Human Services Interim Committee, said in a joint statement to The Salt Lake Tribune.
“Utah was right to lead on this issue,” they continued, “and the public agrees — polls show clear majority support both statewide and nationally. Simply put, the science isn’t there, the risks are real, and the public is with us. We intend to keep the moratorium in place.”
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