Story at a glance:
- One day after Gov. Asa Hutchinson’s veto on the SAFE Act, the Arkansas State Assembly voted to override it.
- The SAFE Act would prohibit doctors from performing gender-affirming surgeries and procedures on transgender youth.
- Hutchinson called the bill an “overreach.”
Amid a national flurry of state restrictions on transgender health care opportunities, Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson (R) vetoed a health care bill passed by the state legislature that would prohibit doctors from performing gender reassignment surgeries and providing other health care services that aid gender reassignment.
Hutchinson vetoed the bill on Monday. During a press conference, he said the bill is “not the right path” for transgender adolescents under the age of 18.
On Tuesday, just one day later, the General Assembly overrode the gubernatorial veto, pressing the bill forward into law.
The bill, denoted as House Bill 1570 (HB 1570) in the state legislature, was popular among state legislators. Hutchinson said he expected the General Assembly to override his veto with a simple majority.
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“I am hopeful though that my action will cause conservative Republican legislators to think through the issue again and hopefully come up with a more restrained approach that allows a thoughtful study of the science and ethics surrounding the issue before acting,” he commented following his veto on Monday.
Hutchinson has passed bills that restrict the transgender community prior to this, including one which allow doctors to decline to perform select procedures based on their individual beliefs and another that prohibited individuals born biologically male to participate in women’s high school and collegiate sports.
He saw HB 1570, or the Save Adolescents from Experimentations (SAFE) Act, as a government overreach into the lives of residents.
“I want people in Arkansas and across the country to understand that whether their transgender or otherwise that they are loved, they are appreciated…and we want to send a message of tolerance and diversity,” he continued.
He also called the legislators supporting the bill “well-intentioned” regarding their sponsorship of the SAFE Act.
One of the bill’s sponsors, Rep. Robin Lundstrom (R), has yet to issue a public comment on the veto or override, but he supported Hutchinson’s passage of the separate bill prohibiting biological males from participating in women’s sports.
Transgender advocacy organizations, namely the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), disavowed the General Assembly’s decision, tweeting a series of statements pledging to fight the SAFE Act in court.
“This decision ignores dozens of local doctors, national medical experts, as well as trans youth and their parents,” the ACLU wrote.
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Published on Apr 06,2021