Governor Denies Protections for Women, Girls and Children Harmed by Bad Medicine
MADISON, Wis. — Governor Evers on Tuesday vetoed legislation that would have protected girls and women in school athletics and extended an opportunity for justice for individuals who were harmed by gender-altering medical treatments given to them as a child.
Assembly Bill 100 designates athletic sports, teams and locker rooms in K-12 schools based on the sex of the participants and prevents biological males from using locker rooms designated for females. Assembly Bill 102 applies the same policy to sports, teams and locker rooms at public universities.
“Girls and women deserve fair athletic competition and secure private spaces. With his veto, the Governor chose to disregard the interests of the vast majority of competitors,” said Sen. Rob Hutton (R-Brookfield), co-author of both bills. “The Governor frames it as an issue of fairness, but the net outcome will be unfair and potentially unsafe for the vast majority of competitors as they work hard to achieve athletic greatness.”
Senate Bill 405 allows individuals who experience physical, psychological or emotional harm after being administered gender-altering medical interventions while they were under the age of 18 to seek civil compensation from the healthcare provider until age 33.
Recognizing the lack of long-term research into the effects of these treatments and that the full consequences may not manifest for years, the bill seeks to address growing concerns about the long-term consequences of medical interventions, including puberty blockers, hormone therapy, and surgeries, which are increasingly performed on minors with mental health challenges.
“Medical treatment for children should be held to higher standards. When it’s not, those who were administered treatments with unknown, life-altering effects should be able to seek justice,” said Hutton, who also authored SB 405. “Once again, the Governor’s veto disregards the interests of formerly transgender individuals whose lives were changed for the worse by bad medical advice given to them as children. It’s not clear to me who benefits by denying those folks a chance at justice.”
Two major medical groups recently recommended delaying gender-altering medical interventions until adulthood. The American Medical Association and the American Society of Plastic Surgeons cited insufficient evidence and low-quality research about the long-term consequences of those procedures and advised no longer performing them on minors.
NOTE: This press release was submitted to Urban Milwaukee and was not written by an Urban Milwaukee writer. While it is believed to be reliable, Urban Milwaukee does not guarantee its accuracy or completeness.
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