As of Might 21, 2024, KFF monitoring exhibits that half of all U.S. states have enacted a regulation that prohibits or limits youth entry to gender affirming care. The uptick on this lawmaking was sluggish at first however then quickly accelerated over the course of the previous 18 months. LGBTQ civil rights, together with these associated to well being care entry, proceed to be the topic of divisive political debates on the state and nationwide degree, notably because the election season heats up.
Determine 1
Arkansas was the primary state to enact a youth gender affirming care ban in April 2021, with Arizona and Alabama following a few 12 months later. Starting in January 2023, the variety of states enacting these insurance policies quickly proliferated and by August, the variety of states with bans reached 22 – a seven-fold improve in an eight-month interval. As of final week, the overall variety of states has now reached 25. Whereas these legal guidelines do primarily influence youth entry to well being care, some influence grownup entry too, and a majority of the legal guidelines (23 of 25) embody skilled and/or civil penalties for well being care practitioners who present such care, together with six states with felony penalties. Much like the proliferation of bans, authorized challenges are piling up, and legal guidelines in 17 of the 25 states are being challenged in state or federal court docket. (Detailed details about these state legal guidelines and litigation accessible in our Coverage Tracker: Youth Entry to Gender Affirming Care and State Coverage Restrictions, which KFF will proceed to replace as developments happen.)
