West Virginia House OKs bill doctors say would eliminate care for most at-risk transgender youth

By LEAH WILLINGHAM
Associated Press

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — West Virginia’s Republican-controlled House of Delegates has approved a bill that doctors treating transgender youth in the state say would prevent the prescription of certain medical interventions like hormone therapy to patients at risk for self-harm or suicide. The proposal, which now heads to the Senate, was greenlit after more than 500 medical professionals and students signed a letter opposing it, expressing concern it would cause young patients preventable harm and put their lives at risk. House Republicans say such fears are overblown and that the bill is less restrictive than current law. But the state’s only LGBTQ+ advocacy organization and doctors treating transgender youth in West Virginia says that’s not true.