Mississippi House OKs Ban on Minors' Gender-Confirming Care

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) The Republican-controlled Mississippi House voted Thursday to ban gender-confirming care for minors, joining about a dozen other conservative states in trying to restrict health care access for young transgender people.

Republican Rep. Nick Bain said in response to Democrats' questions during a debate that he knows no examples of such surgeries being done on people younger than 18 in Mississippi.

Bain, of Corinth, said some young transgender people have received hormone treatments in the state, but he did not know how many. He said the bill was filed because there is a presence and a threat of young people receiving medical procedures to transition from the gender they were assigned at birth.

To me, it sounds like a solution in search of a problem, said Democratic Rep. Bryant Clark of Pickens.

The vote to pass the bill was 78-28. All opposition came from Democrats, although some Democrats and one independent did not vote. The bill will move to the Republican-controlled Senate.