Nevada Gov. Joe Lombardo, a Republican, signed a law on June 12 that requires health insurance companies to cover all transgender surgeries, defying the national trend of GOP governors who oppose the practice.
While six state legislatures with Democrat majorities, including Nevada’s, have approved legislation in favor of transgender medical procedures and policies, Lombardo’s signature comes as Republican governors in other states have signed legislation that bar transgender surgeries and hormone treatments for minors.
Lombardo had signed a law earlier in June that mandates the state’s Department of Corrections to adopt mental and physical health standards for transgender and gender-nonconforming inmates, as well as cultural competency training for officers.
Additionally, Lombardo defied party norms earlier this month when he signed a bill that codified existing protections to ensure that commissions supervising medical licenses don’t discipline or disqualify physicians who provide abortions.
Lombardo also has faced criticism by transgender advocates for vetoing a measure on June 3 that would have protected providers of transgender surgeries and similar services from losing their medical licenses, and also would have prohibited the executive branch from assisting in out-of-state prosecutions related to transgender procedures.
Critics assert that the lack of these protections would exacerbate Nevada’s shortage of providers willing to perform the procedures.
Lombardo, a former Clark County sheriff and the only Republican to unseat an incumbent Democrat governor in the 2022 midterm elections, has received criticism from within his own party for signing the latest measure.
Many believe the governor’s June 3 veto is the reason more significant transgender surgeries have been deemed “medically necessary” rather than “cosmetic” by insurance companies in Nevada, resulting in more transgender surgeries being covered.
GOP Responses to Transgender Issues
Republican lawmakers are probing whether ideology is behind the Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) advocacy for transgender treatments.In April, Republican lawmakers demanded that HHS provide evidence to justify the administration’s support of what they described as dangerous transgender medical procedures for minors.
The letter expresses concern over the HHS’s support for “life-altering” procedures and the use of tax dollars to finance them.
Transgender Medical Decision-Making
Earlier this year, a transgender advocacy organization criticized the medical establishment for permitting ideology, as opposed to science, to guide health care for individuals with gender-related distress.GDA wants medical providers to conduct “an independent, systematic review of the evidence” and thorough psychological assessments before using hormones and surgeries on people of any age. The group is particularly concerned about children who could be vulnerable to “unnecessary harm.”
“The debate over transgender health care has recently escalated to a fever pitch,” GDA noted. In recent months, some proposals have attempted to curtail or outlaw gender-related procedures for minors, while others seek to ensure access to cross-sex hormones and surgeries.
The group claims that emotions and ideology are propelling the arguments in support of some current medical decisions, rather than facts.
The group also reports that activists have attempted “to shut down any critical inquiry,” coercing or censoring those who try to share concerns about the push to medicalize gender-questioning patients.
“We, as members of the transgender community ... wish to disavow these tactics and to request our health care be as safe, rigorously researched, and apolitical as every other health care field,” GDA said.
The Nevada Republican Party didn’t respond by press time to a request by The Epoch Times for comment.
