“The bans on coverage for trans medical care were made so much worse, really, in the eleventh hour,” said Caleb Smith, policy director at the Center for American Progress. “It’s always been about curtailing access to medical care and bodily autonomy. All they had to do was strike ‘under 18,’ and now it’s everybody.”
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Rep. Dan Crenshaw, who pushed the change, defended it: “Gender transition procedures are the lobotomy of our generation,” he said.
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Legal experts and LGBTQ advocates say the measure is likely unconstitutional. “It really clearly violates equal protection,” Smith added. “If you’re a cis man needing testosterone, you’re covered. If you’re a trans man, you’re not.”
The bill now heads to the Senate, where its fate remains uncertain.