An effort to effectively reinstate Arkansas’s stalled ban on gender-affirming care for minors by making it easier to sue doctors who provide such treatments was approved by lawmakers Wednesday.
The bill approved by the House would allow someone who received gender-affirming care as a minor to file a malpractice lawsuit against their doctor for up to 15 years after they turn 18. Under current Arkansas law, medical malpractice claims must be filed within two years of what the law calls an “injury.” The measure now goes to the office of Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders.
The measure brought forward by a federal judge considers whether to strike down a state law he temporarily blocked that prohibits doctors from providing sex-affirming hormone therapy or puberty blockers to anyone under 18 — or refer them to other doctors who able to provide care. No gender confirmation surgery is performed on minors in the state.
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Republican Representative Mary Bentley, the sponsor of the House of Representatives, said the measure “provides much-needed safeguards before life-changing medical treatments can begin.”
Legal experts said the proposal, which other states are considering as part of a broader ban on transgender care for children, would mark a major change to how most malpractice is assessed. By expanding doctors’ liability for providing such care, the bill could make it nearly impossible for some providers to purchase malpractice insurance.
The Arkansas House passed a bill that makes it easier to get doctors to provide hormone-altering drugs and procedures to minors. ((AP Photo/Andrew DeMillo))
Opponents of the measure called the malpractice provision unconstitutional and said it discriminates against transgender youth in the same way as Arkansas’s blocked ban.
“It is very likely that the state will lose another case related to our continued attack on this small, vulnerable group of children,” Democratic Rep. Ashley Hudson said ahead of the vote.
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The bill is the latest in a growing number of bills targeting transgender people, which are also facing increasingly hostile rhetoric in state houses. At least 175 anti-transgender bills have been introduced in state houses this year, the most in a single year, according to the Human Rights Campaign.
Other bills coming through the Arkansas legislature include a bill that would criminalize transgender adults using a restroom that matches their gender identity when a minor is present.
Arkansas was the first state to enact a ban on gender-affirming care for children with its 2021 law, and several states have since followed suit. Another ban in Alabama has also been temporarily blocked by a federal judge. Nearly every major medical group, including the American Medical Association, has opposed such bans.
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The Republican House majority passed the malpractice bill by a majority of 76 to 17, with one Republican lawmaker voting against the bill. Another GOP lawmaker voted present, which has the same effect as voting against the bill.
