- Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt signed a bill Tuesday that will withhold funds from one of the state’s largest hospital systems.
- Unless it stops providing gender-affirming medical care to minors.
- The bill authorizes more than $108 million in federal funds for health services at the University of Oklahoma Medical Center.
Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt signed legislation on Tuesday that will deprive one of the state’s largest hospital systems of Covid relief funds unless it stops providing gender-affirming medical care to minors.
The bill signed by the first-term Republican, who is up for re-election next month, authorises more than $108 million in federal funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act for health services at the University of Oklahoma Medical Center.
However, the funds are only available if the health system discontinues all gender-affirming medical care for children under the age of 18. According to its website, Oklahoma Children’s Hospital at OU Health currently provides medical services related to gender identity for those up to the age of 24, including puberty blockers, gender-affirming hormone therapy, and assistance in locating surgeons who perform gender-affirming surgeries.
Stitt also called on the Republican-controlled Legislature to ban some of these gender-affirming treatments statewide when it reconvenes in February, saying in a statement that he wanted a ban on “all irreversible gender transition surgeries and hormone therapies” on minors.
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Transgender medical treatment for children and teenagers is increasingly being vilified as child abuse and subject to criminal penalties in many Republican-led states. However, it has been available in the United States for over a decade and is supported by major medical organisations.
Oklahoma’s action comes amid a wave of threats against doctors and institutions that care for transgender children, with children’s hospitals across the country beefing up security and collaborating with law enforcement.
In light of Stitt’s legislation, OU’s Medical Center announced that it had ceased hormone-related prescription therapies and surgical procedures for gender-affirming services on patients under the age of 18.
“The OU Health Senior Leadership Team is proactively planning the discontinuation of certain gender medicine services across our facilities,” the hospital system said in a statement to news outlets.
According to The Oklahoman, state Sen. Carri Hicks, a Democrat, said last week that about 100 children receive gender-affirming care at OU Children’s.
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