Governor Katie Hobbs has vetoed critical legislation aimed at protecting children and supporting detransitioners. Senate Bill 1511, championed by Senator Janae Shamp, would have required that insurers and healthcare providers who cover or provide transition treatments to also cover detransition procedures for the many who regret gender transition surgeries. Senate Bill 1007, crafted by Senator Jake Hoffman, sought to impose penalties on public school and library staff for providing explicit materials to minors.
SB 1511 was inspired by Chloe Cole and other young detransitioners who faced significant challenges and regrets following their transition. Shamp’s bill aimed to address the serious physical and psychological impacts of gender transition procedures, offering much-needed support to those seeking to reclaim their biological identity.
Cole said in a video with Shamp that she was ‘butchered by the institutions that we all thought we could trust. The drugs and surgeries changed my body but did not and could not change the undeniable reality that I am and forever will be a female.’
Hobbs’ veto of SB 1511 under the unsubstantiated pretext of privacy concerns ignores the real and urgent need to support detransitioners. This bill was a crucial step in ensuring that those who regret their transitions get equal access to care and coverage when detransitioning.
Another bill Hobbs vetoed was SB 1007, which was designed to keep explicit materials out of schools and libraries, making it a Class 5 felony for staff who provide such materials to minors. This bill was essential in enforcing existing laws to protect children from inappropriate content. Howard Fischer for Capital Media Services writes in a storypublished on June 18th:
The legislation crafted by Sen. Jake Hoffman was one of three measures the governor vetoed on Tuesday. The Queen Creek Republican said it was necessary to put some teeth into existing laws on access by minors to certain materials.
State law makes it illegal for a public school to use or refer students to any ‘sexually explicit material.’ That is defined as text, visual or audio materials that depict sexual conduct, sexual excitement or ‘ultimate sexual acts.’
Hoffman exposed explicit materials like “It’s Perfectly Normal” being shown to kids as young as ten. Fischer writes:
As proof, he brought a copy of a book called “It’s Perfectly Normal” to a committee hearing. Promoting as being for age 10 and older, he showed other lawmakers drawings of things like youngsters [m***********] and two teens having sex.
“These are sexually explicit images that, unfortunately, are shown in our classrooms,” Hoffman said.
Despite clear evidence of explicit materials in schools, Hobbs’ claim that this legislation does nothing to protect minors falls flat. Fischer noted Hobbs’ response:
“This legislation is an attack on public schools and public libraries, and does nothing to protect minors.”
Governor Hobbs calls it an attack, but vetoing child protection is the real assault. Read the full story here (subscription required).