Colorado becomes first state to OK teen transgender treatment tourism

Colorado becomes the first state to legally protect “tourism” for the treatment of transgender teens as part of a trio of bills signed by the Democratic governor.

The new laws mean health care providers cannot be sued by red states where gender-affirming medications and surgeries are illegal if their residents travel to Colorado for care.

It makes Colorado a safe haven for under-18s with gender dysphoria seeking puberty blockers, hormone therapies, and sex reassignment surgery — which have been banned in more than a dozen Republican states.

Two other states – Indiana and Idaho – have banned transgender care for minors and signed into law

The trio of new laws, signed by Democratic Gov. Jared Polis, establish Colorado as a safe haven for access to abortion and access to transitional health care for transgender people

Leading US medical authorities support so-called gender-affirming care for minors, but conservatives and some experts argue that children are too young to make irreversible changes to their bodies.

The three bills that Gov. Jared Polis signed on Friday also protect health care providers from prosecution by neighboring states if their residents travel to Colorado for abortions.

The neighboring states of Wyoming and Oklahoma are among the red states that have severely restricted transgender care for minors and abortions.

Gov. Polis said, “Here in Colorado, we value individual freedoms, and we stand up to protect them…I am excited about the work of attorneys and legislators to strengthen Colorado’s reputation as a beacon of freedom, a beacon of choice, promote a beacon. of individuality where we live our own lives on our own terms in a Colorado for all.”

Democratic Senator Julie Gonzales added, “We see you and in Colorado, we’re behind you.”

But conservatives have pushed back liberal efforts to make interstate travel easier for limited health care workers.

For example, Republican-controlled Idaho has become the first state to pass a law explicitly restricting certain out-of-state travel for abortions.

In Colorado, debates over the bills led by the Republican minority lasted more than 29 hours.

State and federal lawmakers have dubbed interstate travel for controversial health care “abortion tourism,” prompting Democrats to strengthen constitutional protections for free interstate travel.

Abortion is restricted or completely banned in states largely concentrated in the southern US

Democratic Sen. Julie Gonzales, a proponent of the bills, said: ‘We see you and in Colorado we have your back’

Last year, Democratic Senator Catherine Cortez Masto of Nevada introduced a bill called the Freedom to Travel for Health Care Act that would make it illegal for an individual or government official to prevent or penalize travel across state lines to provide reproductive health care. receive or provide. that’s legal in that state.’

Senate Republicans shot it down, calling it radical and an attempt to “set fire to the public” and elevate “what ifs.”

Democrat-led New Mexico passed a similar abortion protection law earlier this year to legally protect people seeking abortions or gender-affirming care, and those providing the treatments, from interstate investigations.

The Colorado government stands out from a largely Republican cluster of Midwestern states, where in recent years transgender people’s access to puberty blockers, hormone therapy, and menopause surgery has been heavily restricted and prohibited in the case of care for minors. frankly.

Full of expectation that the Supreme Court would overturn the 1973 decision that guaranteed a right to abortion last spring, Polis and the legislature voted by a Democratic majority to codify the right to the procedure into the state constitution, meaning that any Coloradan who has a wants an abortion, can get one, regardless of the SCOTUS ruling.

In the months leading up to the June decision and immediately after, emergency trips to Colorado were made from anti-abortion states for abortion services increased by 33 percent, the third most of any state. The uptick started in April, around the time Colorado’s neighbor Texas passed a vigilante-style law banning abortion after six weeks.

Colorado in October 2021 also became the first state to include transition-related care for transgender people as part of the state’s essential health care requirements, meaning that people who want to access those transition services can use the health insurance they pay for to get the get the care they need.

Already weak access to transitional care services, also known as gender-affirming care, is rapidly disappearing in the US.

More than a dozen states have limited access to some degree. Recently, Indiana Governor Eric Holcomb banned all transitional care for minors starting in July.

This means minors currently receiving transitional care in Indiana have until the end of the year to stop doing so. As of July 1, transgender youth under the age of 18 will not be allowed access to hormone therapy, puberty blockers and surgeries in the state.

The June 2022 Supreme Court decision returning the power to make abortion policies to individual states created a confusing patchwork of laws governing the procedure in the US. The inconsistent laws coupled with longer waiting times created a new migration pattern in which patients are forced to drive for hours or even days to an abortion-friendly state.