BATON ROUGE, La. (BRPROUD) – The Louisiana Senate has revived HB648 which looks to ban gender-affirming care for minors after it was voted down in a committee last week.
The vote by the Senate Health and Welfare brought national scrutiny from far-right groups who condemned the Republican chairman who cast the deciding vote to defer the bill. Some conservative lawmakers searched for a way to bring the bill back to pass it in the waning days of the legislative session.
The bill was framed as a way to protect children from sex change procedures and hormones. Hearings have been rife with misinformation regarding the transgender community.
LGBTQ advocates pushed back heavily pointing to research that shows this care for minors greatly reduces suicide rates and only a very small percentage regret their transition.
Sen. Fred Mills, R-Parks, who voted against the bill originally is the sole Republican who voted against the move to discharge the bill to place it in a different committee for a new vote.
The bill will now be heard in the Judiciary A committee on Friday at 1 p.m.
