Reeves signs bill banning gender-affirming care for trans minors

Gov. Tate Reeves signed into law Tuesday a bill banning gender-affirming care for trans minors in Mississippi, calling it part of “a war on objective scientific truth” and “basic biology.” 

Effective immediately, Mississippi’s estimated 2,400 trans children will no longer be able to receive gender-affirming care like puberty blockers and hormone therapy from in-state providers. The legal risk for trans children and their families seeking care out of state is unclear. 

House Bill 1125, called the “Regulate Experimental Adolescent Procedures (REAP) Act, would strip doctors who provide this care of their medical license and tort claim protections. Anyone who aids and abets this care for trans children could be liable for civil damages for up to 30 years after a child receives gender-affirming care. Insurers and Medicaid would be prohibited from reimbursing families for this care. 

Reeves cast the law as a way to protect Mississippi’s children but during a press conference would not say if he had spoken with a single child in Mississippi who had been harmed by gender-affirming care.