Iowa enacts transgender bathroom bill and ban on gender-affirming care for minors
NBCNov 25, 2022
The Facts
On Wednesday, Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds signed two bills into law: one prohibiting doctors from aiding gender transitions for minors, and the other preventing transgender students from entering school bathrooms or changing rooms used by the opposite biological sex.
The first bill prevents Iowa doctors from prescribing puberty blockers or hormone therapy treatments to children under 18 as well as prohibits any "gender transition procedures" that would "affirm the minor's perception of the minor's gender or sex."
The Spin
Republican narrative
Republicans are taking the lead in protecting children, and Kim Reynolds is the latest GOP governor to sign concrete legislation to prevent child abuse disguised as "gender-affirming care." Children must be protected from the irreparable harm done to their bodies caused by this woke ideology, and the privacy and safety of all students using public facilities must be preserved. This is common sense governance.
Democratic narrative
Iowa joins other GOP-led states in their discrimination against transgender people, especially transgender youth. Iowa’s laws withhold necessary gender-affirming care that transgender children need. Trans youth must be protected and allowed the same right to pursue a life of happiness and dignity as anyone else.
