At least 12 American states have passed new bans and laws restricting gender-affirming healthcare for minors, as hormone treatments, transition surgery and puberty blockers become the latest medical topic to become politicized in the United States.

Gender-affirming care is defined as age-appropriate care that's medically necessary for the well-being of many transgender and non-binary people who experience symptoms of gender dysphoria, or distress that results from having one’s gender identity not match their sex assigned at birth, according to the Human Rights Campaign.

The American Academy of Pediatrics said in 2022 that "there is strong consensus among the most prominent medical organizations worldwide that evidence-based, gender-affirming care for transgender children and adolescents is medically necessary and appropriate. It can even be lifesaving.”

The U.S. has seen a large increase in recent years in the number of young people identifying with a gender different than what they were assigned at birth and there are now more than 100 gender clinics treating children in the U.S., up from zero over the last 15 years.

Republican-led states of Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Mississippi, Missouri, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, West Virginia, have passed various bans on gender affirming care for young people this year.

Missouri legislators became the first state to ban gender-affirming care for both adults and minors on April 13.Missouri’s Attorney General Andrew Bailey said: “When even progressive countries like Sweden, Norway, Finland, and the United Kingdom have all sharply curtailed these procedures, it’s time for the United States to course correct.”

In Arkansas, health care providers are now legally liable for civil action up to 15 years after a minor turns 18 if they provide a gender-transition procedure on that minor.

The state of Georgia now prohibits certain surgical procedures on gender dysphoria in minors from being performed in hospitals and other licensed healthcare facilities.

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