US state bans healthcare for transgender children who wish to transition

A US state has banned transgender children from accessing healthcare despite its own conservative governor calling the measure too extreme.

The Arkansas General Assembly on Tuesday afternoon voted to override Governor Asa Hutchinson’s veto of a bill that would ban individuals from doing gender reassignment surgery or hormonal treatments until they are 18 years old.

The Arkansas Senate voted 25-8 in favor of overriding the veto of the bill called HB 1570.

Transition care for transgender minors will now be banned in the state.

Hutchinson, a Republican, previously told reporters that ‘the bill is overbroad, extreme, and does not grandfather those young people who are currently under hormone treatment’.

The governor had said he did not expect that the General Assembly could override his veto. Hutchinson had also expressed hope that some legislators would carefully consider the bill again before coming to a decision.

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