On Dec. 11, the U.S. House approved a massive defense policy bill that includes a ban on gender-affirming care for children of service members, NBC News noted.
The sweeping bill—known as the National Defense Authorization Act, or NDAA—authorizes spending for the Defense Department and sets defense policies before they expire at the end of the year. The bill passed 281-140; 200 Republicans and 81 Democrats voted yes, while 124 Democrats and 16 Republicans voted no. It now heads to the Democratic-controlled Senate; President Joe Biden must sign the measure for it to become law.
Many opposed the provision—including Adam Smith, the top Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee. “[B]lanketly denying health care to people who need it—just because of a biased notion against transgender people—is wrong,” Smith, D-Washington, said in a statement. However, Democrats were split on the issue, with House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., Democratic Caucus Chair Pete Aguilar, D-California and Vice Chair Ted Lieu, D-California, voting for the measure; Minority Whip Katherine Clark, D-Massachusetts, and Assistant Democratic Leader Joe Neguse, D-Colorado, voted against it.
Pro-LGBTQ+ groups also opposed the provision. Windy City Times received a statement from National Black Justice Collective (NBJC) CEO and Executive Director Dr. David J. Johns. In part, Johns said, “It is deeply troubling and sadly unsurprising that Republicans in the House of Representatives, previewing their Party’s platform of bigotry and targeted discrimination over the next four years, embedded a provision in the [NDAA] denying transgender children of military service members access to the health care. This unnecessary and harmful provision is part of a manufactured campaign of hatred toward transgender youth—less than 1% of the population—and represents a disturbing lack of respect for the families of those who dedicate their lives to defending this nation.”
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