Right now there are unprecedented attacks on the right of transgender people to transition. Radical far-right politicians have admitted that laws banning all forms of transition including social for minors are only a first step towards banning all transition care for transgender people. This must not be allowed to happen. Evidence shows that transition care including surgeries results in hugely improved mental health outcomes for transgender people (Almazan 2021) including a drastic reduction in substance use and suicidal ideation. Medical decisions should be between a person and their doctor. The government has no place stepping in to ban medical treatments that are clearly beneficial on the basis of political ideology, criminalizing doctors in the process. It is urgent that federal protections for transgender medical care be passed at the federal level to protect fundamental rights to receive medical treatment without interference by ideologues.
