by Mara Silvers and Alex Sakariassen
HELENA — In an emotional four-hour hearing Monday, advocates and opponents of transgender rights debated two bills before the House Judiciary Committee, setting the stage for a controversial vote later this week.
Both pieces of proposed legislation, sponsored by Rep. John Fuller, R-Kalispell, saw a higher number of people who spoke in opposition than in support.
The testimony presented fundamental disagreements about whether young people who do not identify with the gender they were assigned at birth should be allowed access to athletics and medical treatment. Lawmakers also heard testimony that included a slew of references to medical studies and analysis, much of which was later undermined or complicated by other medical professionals and health care organizations.
House Bill 112 would bar transgender girls and young women from women’s sports teams at the K-12 and collegiate levels. First to speak in favor of HB 112 was Barbara Ehardt, a Republican lawmaker from Idaho who carried a similar law last spring that has since been blocked by a federal judge. During her testimony, Ehardt speculated that allowing a transgender woman to compete on a collegiate women’s sports team would force teams at other schools to change their recruiting practices and seek transgender players of their own in order to remain competitive.
House Bill 113, Fuller’s second bill heard by the committee, would prohibit medical providers from using widely accepted best-practice treatments for youth with gender dysphoria, including puberty blockers and hormonal treatments. If found to be in violation of the law, health care professionals could be fined up to $50,000.
A number of medical associations, including the Montana chapters of the National Social Workers Association and the American Academy of Pediatrics, registered their opposition to the proposal.
“At the heart of this bill, the Legislature is inserting itself between a provider and their patient,” said Stacey Anderson, representing the Montana Primary Care Association. “House Bill 113 supplants medical care and decision-making of a provider with that of a political body.” Read more via Montana Free Press