GOP lawmakers busted saying they want to ban gender-affirming care for adults too

Republican lawmakers from Ohio and Michigan admitted on social media that the “endgame” of their efforts at restricting access to gender-affirming care is to ban such care for adults as well as minors.

Michigan state Rep. Brad Paquette (R) hosted the X Spaces meeting Friday, which brought together several Michigan state senators and representatives and Ohio Rep. Gary Click (R) to discuss policy around gender-affirming care for minors with detransitioner and anti-trans activist Prisha Mosley.

Related:

Ohio’s governor just made life a lot harder for transgender people

Mike DeWine’s new draft rules would impose restrictions on gender-affirming care for adults.

While much of the hour-long conversation focused on transgender young people, towards the end, Michigan state Rep. Josh Schriver (R) pivoted to adults.

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“My whole thing is, in terms of endgame, why are we allowing these practices for anyone?” Schriver asked. “Why would we stop this for anyone under 18, but not apply this for anyone over 18? It’s harmful across the board, and I think that’s something that we need to take into consideration in terms of the endgame.”

Contrary to what Schriver said, every major medical organization in the U.S. has recognized that gender-affirming healthcare is evidence-based, safe, effective, and can be medically necessary to treat gender dysphoria in both adults and young people.

Responding to what he described as Schriver’s “very smart thought,” Click said that “what we know legislatively is we have to take, sometimes, small bites.”

Click went on to note the ways in which Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine (R) has already begun chipping away at transgender adults’ ability to access gender-affirming care. Earlier this month, DeWine announced draft rules that he said would prevent what he described as “fly-by-night” providers from providing gender-affirming care (including medication) to adults “with no counseling and no basic standards to assure quality of care.” The draft rules, he said, would require a multidisciplinary team — including an endocrinologist, a bioethicist, and a psychiatrist — to support individuals through care; a comprehensive care plan that includes informed consent from patients of the “risks” associated with gender-affirming care; and lengthy mental health counseling prior to being considered for treatment.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio said that the governor’s restrictions could amount to “a de facto ban on care for transgender youth and adults” in the state.

Click admitted that “there’s something to be said for adults being able to weigh the pros and the cons” of gender-affirming care. But Schriver compared consenting to gender-affirming care to “consenting to mutilation, consenting to self-harm, consenting to killing yourself.”

“We have to be looking at the endgame simultaneously,” Schriver said, “maybe even using that as a way to move the window and to say, ‘Hey, this isn’t just wrong for 0-18, this is wrong for everyone, and we should not be allowing this to happen.’”

Click, who sponsored the Ohio law banning gender-affirming care for minors, which DeWine vetoed, recalled being asked by a reporter whether he felt bad about the fact that such laws have resulted in trans adults being unable to access care due to clinics shutting down.

“I said, ‘No, I don’t feel bad,’” Click said. “We have to take one bite at a time, do it incrementally. When you put everything into one pot, it’s going to be harder for you to get any legislation across the finish line.”

Mosley jumped in to endorse Click’s approach to banning gender-affirming care across the board.

“It is easier to handle the kids because of what we understand about consent,” she said. “However, I also think that people in grave mental distress or who are extremely mentally ill also can’t consent. On top of that, telling a suicidal person, ‘Either take this experimental treatment or die by your own hands’— That’s unethical.”

“And even if all of that is out of the way, no one can consent to a lie. Most of these doctors are straight up lying about the effects and saying it’ll magically cure every bad feeling you’ve ever had and that you can actually change sex,” she added, citing no evidence.

As the conversation wrapped up, Schriver again asked his fellow Republican legislators to “keep your mind open to banning this for all people.”

“This is something that’s harmful whether you’re 18, 19, 20, or older,” he said. “If we aim for the moon, we’ll land in the stars. If we try to ban it for everyone, we should easily ban this for kids.”