Nebraska requires transgender youth seeking gender reassignment care to wait seven days before starting puberty-blocking drugs or hormone treatment, under emergency regulations announced Sunday by the state health department.
The regulations also require transgender minors to receive at least 40 hours of “clinically neutral” and “gender identity-focused” treatment before receiving gender identity-affirming medical care. is required. new law The law, which took effect Sunday, bans gender reassignment surgeries for transgender youth under 19 and requires state chief medical officers to decide when and how these youths can receive other care. It is mandatory to stipulate the following in detail.
The state Department of Health and Human Services’ announcement that Republican Gov. Jim Pillen approved the emergency regulations came after families, doctors and even lawmakers said they largely approved. There was no response The authorities will notify you when the regulations come into force. They were concerned that Pilen’s government was slowing them down to block treatment for transgender youth who had not yet begun treatment.
“This law goes into effect today, introducing emergency regulations,” department spokesman Jeff Powell said in an email to The Associated Press on Sunday. “There was nothing slow-walking.”
new regulations The rules will remain in effect while the department solicits public comment on a permanent set of rules. The agency said it plans to release a final version by the end of October and hold a public hearing on Nov. 28 in Lincoln, the state capital.
Grant Friedman, legal fellow at the American Civil Liberties Union of Nebraska, said it would be helpful to have rules in place to help new transgender patients receive treatment. But he said medical professionals already follow international standards for treating transgender youth, and Congressional intervention is unnecessary.
“These are decisions that are made between patients, parents and health care providers,” he said after a transgender rights rally at the Nebraska State Capitol on Sunday.
Nebraska’s ban on gender reassignment surgery for minors and other restrictions on gender reassignment care were part of a series of measures rolling back transgender rights in Republican-controlled state legislatures across the country.
At least 22 states have enacted laws restricting or prohibiting gender-affirming medical care for transgender minors, and most of those states are facing lawsuits. Arkansas’ ban mirrored Nebraska’s. rejected by a federal judge In June, the law will be appealed as unconstitutional to the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals, which also handles the Nebraska case.
Speaking at the signing of Nebraska’s new law, Pillen suggested that children and their parents who seek gender-affirming treatment are being “deceived,” adding, “It’s really Lucifer’s masterpiece.” Dr. Timothy Tezmer, the province’s chief medical officer of health, is Piren’s appointee.
The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends gender-affirming care for people under 18, citing an increased risk of suicide among transgender teens.
Nebraska’s new regulations require a patient’s parents or legal guardian to be involved in all treatment, including the required 40 hours of treatment. It also requires at least one hour of treatment every three months after treatment begins to “assess the ongoing impact on the patient’s mental health.”
The seven-day waiting period for puberty blockers or hormone therapy begins when a doctor receives a signed consent form from a parent or legal guardian. Released minor patients can also sign off on their own.
The ministry announced this. online documentation It aims to answer the frequently asked question that a waiting period allows patients and their families “sufficient time to weigh the risks and benefits of treatment.” Friedman said it’s not yet clear what the practical impact will be on patients receiving treatment.
The same state health department document says the required 40 hours of treatment will allow doctors to “understand the patient’s needs thoroughly.”
But Friedman said this requirement is problematic because there is a shortage of mental health providers who can provide this treatment.
“This just adds another barrier to the existing healthcare barriers that already exist in our healthcare system,” he said.
