The project would have marked an escalation in the Republican Party’s efforts to enact anti-transgender measures in parliaments across the country this year. It was strongly contested by medical specialists and LGBTQ advocates, who warned that it would be interrupted with the necessary care.
The Republican-controlled Arkansas legislature, however, may still overturn its veto with a simple majority vote in both chambers – a move that Hutchinson said he hoped lawmakers would take.
If lawmakers overturn Hutchinson’s veto, Arkansas doctors may face discipline from the state licensing board for providing transgender youth with hormone treatment or gender-appropriate surgery, or make recommendations for care.
A similar measure Alabama lawmakers could take this week would make it a crime for doctors to provide such care to minors, punishable by up to 10 years in prison. The Alabama Senate has already passed bill 23-4 on party lines.
Meanwhile, Hutchinson recently signed two bills similar to anti-transgender efforts in other states. This includes bills that prohibit transgender girls from playing competitive sports consistent with their gender identity and another that allows doctors to refuse patients on moral or religious grounds – an effort that LGBTQ advocates saw as an objective to limit care to transgender patients.
As Hutchinson vetoed it on Monday, however, he said it represents “state interference in the relationship between father, son, doctor and patient”.
Hutchinson said he had not received pressure from corporations to veto the measure since the legislature passed it a week ago, but said he would not be surprised if the state received reactions – especially in light of the reaction to Georgia’s electoral legislation.