Last Friday, Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds (R) signed a budget bill containing a provision that allows local governments or state agencies to refuse to use public dollars, including Medicaid funds, for transition-related surgeries for transgender people.
“This narrow provision simply clarified that Iowa’s Civil Rights Act does not require taxpayer dollars to pay for sex reassignment and other similar surgeries. This returns us to what had been the state’s position for years,” Reynolds spokesman Pat Garrett said in a statement.
The provision was added in response to an Iowa Supreme Court decision issued in March that found that the state’s previous ban prohibiting the use of Medicaid dollars for transition-related care was unconstitutional under the section of the Civil Rights Act prohibiting discrimination against people based on sexual orientation or gender identity.
The American Civil Liberties Union of Iowa noted in a statement that the newly passed provision only affects “public accommodations” — which includes Medicaid — under the Civil Rights Act.
“The law did not amend or alter any other section of the Iowa Civil Rights Act or impact other government funding of transgender care, such as that provided to state employees or prisoners,” the ACLU of Iowa said in a statement.
Other LGBTQ rights groups condemned Reynold’s decision not to use a line-item veto to remove the provision, which will now be used to deny care to transgender individuals.
“It’s deeply disappointing that Gov. Kim Reynolds is caving to the pressure from some radical lawmakers in the Iowa Senate, instead of protecting the rights and dignity of transgender Iowans,” JoDee Winterhof, HRC’s senior vice president of policy and political affairs, said in a statement.
“Gov. Reynolds had the option to line-item veto this provision and leave the rest of the funding bill intact, but she did not,” Winterhof added. “This sends a strong message that she is not working for all of her constituents and a craven desire to please Iowa’s most extreme lawmakers. As a native Iowan, Iowa deserves better — and different — leaders.”
Studies of states where gender confirmation surgery is covered by Medicaid funds have not reported significant cost increases, despite claims by conservatives that covering such transition-related procedures are overly expensive.
“We are deeply disappointed that Gov. Reynolds has ignored medical experts, Iowa business leaders, cost analysis data, and the many transgender Iowans and allies who shared their stories with her to sign this bill into law,” Daniel Hoffman-Zinnel, the executive director of LGBTQ rights group One Iowa Action, said in a statement accusing the governor of tarnishing the state’s reputation as a place that values fairness and equality.
“By signing this cruel legislation into law, Gov. Reynolds has told every transgender Iowan that they are second-hand citizens and unwelcome in our state,” Hoffman-Zinnel added. “Make no mistake, this law threatens people’s lives. It also won’t stand up to legal muster, and will stick taxpayers with the bill for ensuing lawsuits. Today is a shameful day to be an Iowan.”
Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf has vetoed legislation seeking to bar transgender athletes from playing on sports teams that match their gender identity.
The bill, which sailed through the Republican-led legislature on largely party-line votes, would have required public K-12 schools and colleges to designate sports as male, female, or coed. For female-designated sports, athletes would only be allowed to participate if they were assigned female at birth.
The bill is silent on male-designated sports, presumably allowing transgender males and cisgender females to participate on boys' teams, such as football, in cases where there is not a team specifically designated for girls. Heretofore, such allowances were considered in compliance with Title IX, the federal law prohibiting sex-based discrimination in educational settings.
The British Triathlon has released updated rules that create a new “open” category for transgender athletes as part of a push to ban trans women from competing against cisgender women.
The federation's new policy requires that "all individuals including male, transgender and those non-binary who were male sex at birth" be placed into an “open” category, separate from people assigned female at birth.
With the creation of the "open" category, only those athletes who were assigned female at birth will be allowed to participate in international events designated for females.
On June 27, Spain's Council of Ministers -- the government's key decision-making body, comprised of the country's prime minister, deputies, and ministers appointed by the king -- approved a draft of a gender-identification bill that would allow transgender people to legally change their gender.
The bill now heads to the Spanish Parliament, or Cortes Generales for approval, where it may be further amended before being passed into law, although lawmakers could still choose to scuttle the bill, which is already being criticized by feminist, women-centric organizations -- potentially creating complications for the Socialist-led government, which relies on several left-leaning groups as part of its governing coalition.
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