Indiana Becomes 14th State To Ban Gender-Affirming Care—Despite GOP Governor’s Concerns About ‘Vagueness’

Topline

Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb (R) signed a bill Wednesday that will ban gender-affirming care for all minors, after it was unknown whether he would sign or veto the legislation, joining 13 other states that have passed similar bills targeting transgender health care.

Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb signed a bill Wednesday banning gender-affirming care.

Key Facts

The bill, approved by the state legislature last month, prohibits health care providers from “knowingly” providing “gender transition procedures” to minors, which include gender-reassignment surgeries, hormone therapy and drugs that block puberty.

The ban will take effect July 1, though physicians—whose licenses can be revoked if they violate the law—can still prescribe gender-transitioning medications to anyone currently transitioning until December 31.

It was unclear whether Holcomb would sign the bill after he suggested Tuesday the legislation was “clear as mud,” had “some vagueness to it” and “wasn’t part of my agenda.”

Holcomb also vetoed a bill last year that would have banned transgender girls from participating in girls’ school sports, arguing the state could face legal liability—though the Republican-led legislature voted to override his veto.

Indiana is the fourteenth state to ban gender-affirming care for trans youth, according to the Human Rights Campaign, after Idaho Gov. Brad Little (R) signed a similar bill yesterday.

Key Background

Indiana joins a growing list of states to enact laws targeting gender-affirming care for transgender youth, including Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, Arizona, Utah, South Dakota, Iowa, West Virginia, Kentucky and Tennessee. Other states like Arkansas and Kentucky have banned transgender students from using school bathrooms that match their gender identity. Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear (D) vetoed the bathroom law and noted that parents, not the government, “should get to make important medical decisions about their children,” but the GOP-controlled legislature overrode his veto. Alabama, Arkansas and Texas have also issued bans on gender-affirming care, though court injunctions are allowing continued access.

Chief Critic

Some medical associations, including the American Medical Association and the American Academy of Pediatrics, have pushed back against attempts to ban gender-affirming care, arguing the treatments are often necessary because transgender children face higher rates of depression and suicide. “Decisions about medical care belong within the sanctity of the patient-physician relationship,” the AMA said in 2021. The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) condemned the Indiana Senate for its introduction of the bill, calling it “another example of extremist politicians using their power to marginalize LGBTQ+ people, especially transgender youth.”

Big Number

300,000. That’s how many kids aged 13 to 17 identify as transgender, according to estimates from UCLA’s Williams Institute. Of these, nearly 27% are estimated to live in states that have issued bans on gender-affirming care.

Tangent

Indiana lawmakers have introduced more than 20 bills this year targeting trans access, according to the Indianapolis Star. Some bills that have been introduced include a ban on school employees using names or pronouns that don’t match a student’s sex assigned at birth. Another bill prevents imprisoned people from using state funding for gender-affirming surgery. The House also approved a bill in February that says the Department of Child Services cannot remove a child from a home because the parents won’t affirm the child’s gender identity or provide them gender-affirming care.