A bill introduced in the Georgia Senate blocking state insurance plans from paying for trans-affirming health care has moved forward.
SB 39, which would prohibit “coverage of expenses for gender-affirming care under the state health benefit plan or with any state funds” and “state healthcare facilities and healthcare providers employed by the state from providing gender-affirming care,” was passed by the Senate Insurance and Labor Committee on Tuesday, Feb. 4, by a vote of 6-3.
“What this bill says is we are not going to spend state taxpayer dollars on transgender surgeries in our state,” Republican Sen. Blake Tillery of Vidalia, the bill’s sponsor, told the Senate Insurance and Labor Committee.
According to SNaP Co., a Black trans- and queer-led advocacy organization in Atlanta, the bill could effectively cut off gender-affirming medical access for low-income trans kids who cannot afford private insurance.
Both SB 39 and SB 1 – a bill banning trans girls from competing on sports teams that align with their genders – will go before the Georgia Senate on Thursday, Feb. 6.
“If [SB 1 and SB 39] pass, trans youth in Georgia will lose access to life-saving care, and the state will be emboldened to expand even more attacks on our communities,” SNaP Co. wrote on Instagram.
SB 39 and SB 1 are just some of an onslaught of anti-trans bills introduced since the beginning of the Georgia legislative session on Jan. 13. SB 30, introduced on Jan. 27, would block hormone therapy and puberty blockers for minors. HB 104, also introduced Jan. 27, would expand upon SB 1 by banning all trans students from sports teams matching their gender, and SB 41 and HB 221 would amend the current law regarding gender equity in sports by proposing to remove the words “all reasonable efforts” from language requiring equal opportunities for girls.
This attack on trans youth is not limited to Georgia. President Donald Trump issued an executive order on Wednesday, Feb. 5 reversing the Biden-Harris administration’s policy on Title IX and removing sexual orientation and gender identity from the “sex-based discrimination” umbrella.
“If you’re going to have women’s sports, if you’re going to provide opportunities for women, then they have to be equally safe, equally fair, and equally private opportunities, and so that means that you’re going to preserve women’s sports for women,” a White House official said prior to the issuance of the order. The “Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act” was also passed by all House Republicans and two House Democrats – Rep. Henry Cuellar and Rep. Vicente Gonzalez from Texas – on Jan. 14.
