This week, the House advanced a bill, SB1511, securing equal healthcare treatment and insurance coverage for detransitioning patients.
Arizona State Senator Janae Shamp successfully advocated for her bill before the House Health & Human Services committee on Monday. SB1511 prohibits health insurers from denying coverage for gender detransition procedures if those insurers provide coverage for gender transition procedures. Likewise, healthcare providers would be prohibited from denying destransition care.
Shamp opened up with the personal experience of one detransitioner, “Frank,” a 25-year-old man unable to obtain insurance coverage to detransition after attempting to transition into a woman. Insurance had covered Frank’s breast implants and orchiectomy, but refused to cover any reversals.
“He was denied any coverage for the removal of breast implants or the procedure of testicular implants for cosmetic reasons; both of these procedures are still fully covered for cross-sex appearance, but not if your gender journey takes you back to attempting to live as your birth sex,” said Shamp.
Part of the issue with obtaining detransition procedures and coverage concerns the nonexistence of insurance and diagnosis codes for detransitioning, which Shamp touched on during her testimony.
Shamp further noted that data documenting the number of detransitioners doesn’t exist. SB1511 would require health insurers to submit a monthly report to the Department of Insurance and Financial Institutions documenting all detransition claims. The reporting would be anonymized to protect patient privacy.
“If we don’t track the data, how do we know?” said Shamp. “We’re never going to know how many are faced with this fight without the data.”
The House Health & Human Services committee passed Shamp’s bill 5-4; all Democrats voted against it, and all Republicans voted for it.
State Representative Patty Contreras, co-chair of the LGBTQ Legislative Caucus, was one of the most vocal opponents of the Shamp bill. Rather than make remarks of her own, Contreras read aloud a letter from LGBTQ activists with GLSEN and the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) calling the bill “unnecessary and gratuitous.”
“When transgender do detransition, they do so temporarily and because of harassment and discrimination trangender people face: not because they are not transgender or had regret about their treatment,” said Contreras.
The AZ House Health & Human Services Committee is getting ready to discuss SB1511. This bill is an unnecessary and gratuitous excuse to sensationalize detransition. This thread explains more about the harms of SB1511. 🧵
— HRC in Arizona (@HRCaz) March 11, 2024
The letter writers were Kelley Dupps, inclusive policy advocacy manager with GLSEN Arizona, and Bridget Sharpe, HRC’s Arizona director.
Dupps, a woman who identifies as a “trans queer dad,” was most recently a director for Planned Parenthood Arizona prior to joining GLSEN last month. Dupps underwent her gender transition while working for the abortion giant.
some *news*… after nearly a decade, i have started a new job! yesterday was my first day as the Inclusive Policy Advocacy Manager with GLSEN Arizona! Looking forward to the work of creating inclusive and safe learning environments for all K-12 students. 💜🧡
— mx. ginzberg 🏳️⚧️ (@howl_480) March 1, 2024
Another opponent, State Representative Sarah Liguori, opposed the bill as “an unnecessary excuse” to oppose transgenderism.
“I am alarmed by the government overreach into citizens’ privacy by creating a registry of transgender people.” — Rep. @SarahKLiguori votes no on unnecessary and intrusive anti-trans SB1511. It passed on party-line vote. pic.twitter.com/FjdWnJu2UR
— Arizona House Democrats (@AZHouseDems) March 12, 2024