Utah has become the first state in 2023 to ban most youth from receiving transgender surgery and puberty blockers.
The legislation, SB16, passed the state Senate on Friday with a vote of 20–8; two Republican state senators joined with the chamber’s six Democrats in voting against the bill. Republican Utah Gov. Spencer Cox had ten days to decide whether to sign, veto, or let the bill go into effect without his signature. He signed the bill on Saturday.
The measure prohibits health care providers from performing transgender surgeries or prescribing hormone therapy for minors who have not yet been diagnosed with gender dysphoria—a term that the Mayo Clinic defines as “the feeling of discomfort or distress … in people whose gender identity differs from their sex assigned at birth or sex-related physical characteristics.”…