Why Did 14 Democrats Help New Hampshire Republicans Save Their Gender-Affirming Trans Care Ban?

Fourteen Democratic lawmakers gave Republicans the help they needed to move forward with a bill banning gender-affirming health care for minors in New Hampshire.

House Bill 619 passed 199-175 in the New Hampshire House of Representatives. If the bill becomes law, it will prohibit doctors from performing “genital gender reassignment surgery,” defined as any surgical procedure to assist a person with a gender transition, for anyone under 18 who lives in the state. 

In total, 184 Republicans, 14 Democrats, and one independent voted in favor of the bill. In New Hampshire, Republicans hold a narrow advantage in the House—just three votes—and they were forced to rely on Democratic votes to get the legislation passed after three Republicans voted against it and 11 others did not vote or were absent. If these Democrats had voted against the bill, it would have narrowly failed, 189-185. 

Unlike past votes on LGBTQIA+ issues, the House vote on the gender-affirming care ban for minors didn’t fall along party lines. Rep. Jonah Wheeler, a Peterborough Democrat who broke from his party, said in a speech before the vote:

This is a question of whether or not you believe children should be able to get an irreversible surgery. So yeah, despite being a liberal who believes in human rights, I do not think that children should be able to get irreversible surgery. So, I’ll take all the heat that comes from this.

However, the bill must still pass the Republican-led Senate and be signed into law by GOP Governor Chris Sununu, who hasn’t stated whether he’ll sign the legislation. If Sununu signs it into law, New Hampshire will become the 21st state to enact such a ban, following Arkansas, Florida, North Carolina, Nebraska, Utah, Texas, Utah, West Virginia, Tennessee, Montana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, North Dakota, Iowa, Georgia, Indiana, Idaho, South Dakota, and Oklahoma. 

Gender-affirming care bans unjustly target the trans community. In response to the House vote, Policy Advocate at the ACLU of New Hampshire Courtney Reed said in a statement:

Today is an especially grim day in New Hampshire: one where, instead of listening to transgender Granite Staters, medical providers, and clear medical evidence, New Hampshire lawmakers voted against LGBTQ+ rights on four separate bills. The two bills passed today undermine the right to equal protection under the law for LGBTQ+ people – and we urge all State Senators to oppose these dangerous bills that raise serious constitutional concerns this legislative session. Our state has made clear time and again that LGBTQ+ people belong, and after today’s shameful votes, it’s more important than ever to make the message louder and more clear than before that the Granite State respects the rights of LGBTQ+ people–and that our rights are not up for debate.

The decision came amid several New Hampshire House votes relating to trans rights. Recently, the House voted against House Bill 264, which would have provided “a procedure for an individual to obtain a new birth certificate to reflect a sex designation other than that which was assigned at birth.” If the bill had passed, it would’ve changed long-standing rules requiring people to obtain a court order. The House also voted against House Bill 396, allowing state and public bodies to classify “individuals based on biological sex in lavatory facilities and locker rooms, sporting competitions, and detention facilities.”

As Linds Jakows, co-founder of 603 Equality, said in a statement responding to this rash of anti-trans legislation, “Trans kids and their families need to make private healthcare decisions that are best for them, and they shouldn’t be discriminated against and segregated in schools, carceral settings, or other spaces.”

(featured image: Scott Olson/Getty Images)