ARKANSAS, USA — Two years ago, Arkansas became the first state to ban gender-affirming care for minors with the Safe Act, which is currently blocked due to legal challenges.
However, Senate Bill 199 would make it easier to file a lawsuit against doctors who provide gender-affirming care.
"It's not possible for a man to become a woman," said Republican State Senator Gary Stubblefield, whose district covers parts of Sebastian, Franklin, Johnson, and Logan counties, he is one of two lawmakers who filed SB 199, and sponsored the Safe Act.
"It's a simple bill, it just gives a 30-year statute of limitations for medical malpractice for minors that receive gender-affirming care," said District 54 State Representative Mary Bentley.
The current law only allows for two years after they turn 18.
"It's an attempt to intimidate any medical professional, that might provide trans-affirming care to teenagers and pre-teens," said Brynhildre Underwood with NWA Trans Voices.
"I think the intent is more for the parents to get both sides and for the minor to be really told what is long-term," Bentley said. "To really step back and say, 'this is a lifetime change.'"
Underwood, a trans woman herself, fought against previous anti-LGBTQ + legislation. She says she knows firsthand the importance of gender-affirming care and says it does not begin with surgery.
"The way it actually works is that we tend to get them on puberty blockers," Underwood said. "That way children have a lot more time to think about things. To talk with therapists, talk with their family, to experience life so they can actually understand themselves enough to make such a big decision."
"There's no such thing as gender-affirming care," said Stubblefield during the Senate Judiciary Committee" "You cannot affirm something that does not exist. What does exist is chemical castration, sterilization, and surgical mutilation."
Stubblefield calls it child abuse and says there needs to be legal accountability to protect kids.
"It won't affect 99% of Arkansans or more," said Democrat District 14 State Senator Clarke Tucker. "But the people who it does affect, the message they receive from this is that the state they live in hates them."
Tucker voted no on the bill, saying it mischaracterizes the care. "It ignores the experts in the field, once again, we spent 2 hours on this when there are about 20 kids in Arkansas who received this treatment prior to the Safe Act and 25% of kids in Arkansas don't know where their dinner is coming from tonight, but these are the issues we're focusing on."
Senator Tucker voted no on the bill saying it mischaracterizes the care. "It ignores the experts in the field, once again, we spent 2 hours on this when there are about 20 kids in Arkansas who received this treatment prior to the Safe Act, and at the same time 25% of kids in Arkansas don't know where their dinner is coming from tonight but these are the issue we're focusing on."
"Just about everything you said about this bill was either incorrect or misapplied with respect to this bill and I will be voting for it," said Republican, District 6 State Senator Matt McKee said.
The bill now moves on to the full Senate.
"These bills are a way for them to target the queer community," said Underwood.
"This isn't going to be the first time this happened, it isn't going to be the last," Underwood said. "We're going to keep fighting it."
The ACLU of Arkansas sent 5NEWS a statement about the Safe Act reading in part quote:
"The relentless push by state politicians to push this care out of reach while ignoring the pleas of, and demeaning, these young people, their families, and their care providers is divisive, harmful, and in violation of the oath these lawmakers took to protect the rights of all Arkansans."
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