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By Matthew Impelli
Life & Trends Reporter
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A Republican state senator in Louisiana blocked a bill Wednesday that sought to prohibit gender-affirming care, including surgery, for children in the state.
According to the Advocate, House Bill 648 was voted down by the Louisiana Senate Health and Welfare Committee after Fred Mills sided with Democrats against the measure.
"After passing the House, a bill in Louisiana that would have banned pediatric sex changes just failed in the Senate Health and Welfare Committee because 'Republican' State Senator Fred Mills voted with Democrats to kill it," Twitter user Greg Price, a member of the conservative nonprofit State Freedom Caucus Network, wrote in a tweet.
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The blocking of the bill in Louisiana comes as several other states have passed legislation seeking to limit transgender surgery and other medical care for children.
Missouri lawmakers this month passed two pieces of legislation that ban gender-affirming care, including hormones, puberty blockers and gender-affirming surgery. According to the Associated Press, Missouri Governor Mike Parson is expected to sign the legislation.
Additionally, Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey wrote a letter to the Kansas City Board of Police Commissioners calling on law enforcement officials in the city to enforce the ban on transgender care after the Kansas City Council said it wanted the city to be a sanctuary for residents seeking gender-affirming care.
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"I have no reason to doubt that you take seriously your obligation to follow the law," the letter said. "I thus write to make clear that accepting the City Council's solicitation would be both dangerous and unlawful."
The legislation that was blocked in Louisiana on Wednesday was sponsored by Republican state Representative Gabe Firment and states: "Proposed law prohibits healthcare professionals from knowingly committing any of the following acts that attempt to alter a minor's appearance in an attempt to validate a minor's perception of his sex if the minor's perception is inconsistent with his biological sex."
The bill includes a ban on hormone blockers, "prescription or administration of testosterone, estrogen, or progesterone," and gender-affirming surgery.
In March, the Louisiana Department of Health issued a report on gender-affirming care in the state and found that from 2017 to 2021, an average of 14.6 percent of minors with gender dysphoria receive puberty blockers annually. The report also found that from 2017 to 2021, there have been no gender-affirming surgeries conducted on minors in the state.
Newsweek reached out to Firment's office via email for comment.
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