Fair Wisconsin’s Testimony in Opposition to AB 400

I will speak in opposition to Assembly Bill 400.

Gender-affirming care for transgender youth is medically necessary care, just like the kids who receive it – and all kids – are necessary. It is age-appropriate, just as it is appropriate to believe someone at any age when they tell you they know who they are and how they want to live, a perspective backed by rigorous scientific evidence. For young people, it is accessed with informed consent of the patient and their parents. It is individualized, just like the young people who receive it are, themselves, unique individuals. And it is high-quality, just like the bright future this state has ahead of us when all our children thrive. Young people and their families deserve to know it is within their power to continue to access this medically necessary care without anyone else – especially politicians – injecting themselves into their medical decisions. All these young people want – and all their families and providers want for them – is for them to be able to thrive and live in a body that feels like home. I think we can all understand that; that desire is universal, too.

It has been claimed that this bill is not a ban on medically-necessary health care for trans youth. But considering the significant overlap between AB 104, which is an explicit attempt to ban this care, and AB 400, it sure seems to me that this bill is an attempt to ban the medically necessary care trans youth need just under a different bill number.

The fact is that Wisconsin already has a medical malpractice law, and that law already has a special provision to extend the time to bring a lawsuit when the patient is a child. Medical malpractice statutes have already determined when and how much patients can recover in those situations. We do not need a new law here.

The reality is this: we must protect access to youth gender-affirming care because this medically necessary health care makes it possible for trans kids to grow into awesome adults. Wisconsin is a better, richer, more beautiful place thanks to these amazing kids, and the least we can do is ensure they can grow into thriving adults who will enrich our state. We should all be so lucky for them to continue to call Wisconsin home.

Vote no on Assembly Bill 400.

I will add, I was a bit taken aback by the comment that AB 400 and AB 311 are about the same topic. While these bills would both impact the same community, if they are about the same topic, then I hope you will recognize (from the testimony of many people here today) that that same topic is the topic of targeted discrimination against trans people.