After a flurry of 15 bills targeting transgender procedures in Oklahoma, including puberty blocker and hormone treatment, three civil rights advocacy groups threatened "swift legal action" if any of the bills become law.
Oklahoma's state Legislature, controlled by Republicans, wants to curb gender ideology initiatives positioned as gender-affirming care. It will again convene on Feb. 6 to discuss these matters.
The Republican measures emulate bills already successfully passed in both Alabama and Arkansas, later enjoined by federal court orders.
One bill would prevent individuals up to 26 years of age from transgender procedures and treatments.
A similar bill, the Millstone Act was introduced in South Carolina, prompting advocacy groups, including Lambda Legal, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), and the ACLU of Oklahoma to issue a joint statement.
Omar Gonzalez-Pagan, counsel and health strategist at Lambda Legal, said in the release, "Enacting an ideological agenda driven by ignorance and prejudice, instead of science and compassion, is not the way forward.
"We urge the legislature and the governor to not adopt any measure that endangers the health, well-being, and very lives of transgender Oklahomans," continued Gonzalez-Pagan. "We will not hesitate to defend transgender Oklahomans' rights to equality, liberty, and nondiscriminatory access to the health care they need."
Megan Lambert, legal director at the ACLU of Oklahoma, said in the statement, "Gender-affirming care is a critical part of helping transgender youth and adults succeed in life by establishing healthy relationships with their friends and family and by living authentically as themselves."
She added, "Make no mistake, this is a promise of legal action should any of these bills be signed into law."
In September, these three nonprofits challenged a 2022 Oklahoma law barring transgender students from using restrooms and locker rooms of the opposite sex.
In the following month, Oklahoma GOP Gov. Kevin Stitt signed a law barring the state's largest hospital systems from federal funding as long as it continues gender-affirming treatments.
© 2023 Newsmax. All rights reserved.