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Tuesday 28 February 2023
Trans people face ‘horrifying’ rhetoric at statehouses

From Front strict gender-affirming care
for adults and proposed
By ANDREW DeMILLO bans on drag shows that
Associated Press opponents have warned
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — It would also discriminate
was pharmacist Gwendo- against transgender peo-
lyn Herzig’s first time testi- ple.
fying before a legislative Herzig came to the state
committee when she spoke Capitol to testify against a
to several Arkansas law- bill attempting to reinstate
makers in a packed hear- Arkansas’ ban on gender-
ing room this month about affirming care for minors by
a bill restricting gender-af- making it easier to file mal-
firming care for minors. practice lawsuits against
Herzig, who is transgender, providers. In her testimony,
spoke out against the leg- Herzig talked about work-
islation and told the panel ing with transgender pa-
that one of the biggest ob- tients who are on hormone
stacles trans people face is replacement therapy.
a lack of empathy. Only a “Bills like SB199 are de-
few minutes later, a Repub- signed to hinder, not help,
lican lawmaker asked her Arkansans by creating bar-
an inappropriate question riers to evidence-driven
about her genitalia. health care they deserve
“It was horrifying,” she said. under the guise of helping
The exchange, which was the young and innocent,”
livestreamed on the Leg- Gwendolyn Herzig prepares to administer a shot of testosterone for a patient at Park West she said, later saying a vote
Pharmacy in Little Rock, Ark. on Wednesday, Feb. 22, 2023.
islature’s website and has Associated Press for the bill was “unpatriotic,
since been widely shared and casts doubts on our
on social media, is an ex- finding treatment to asking exercising this right that we to the Human Rights Cam- own health and research
ample of the type of de- doctors to carry out medi- have,” said Rumba Yambu, paign. institutions who have
meaning questions and cally assisted suicide. executive director of Intran- Bans on gender-affirming worked through health
rhetoric that transgender Advocates worry that in- sitive, an advocacy and care for minors have al- care fields to improve the
people meet when they creasingly hostile rhetoric support group for trans- ready been enacted this lives of Americans.”
show up to statehouses to about transgender people gender people in Arkan- year in South Dakota and During follow-up ques-
testify against new bills tar- could have a chilling ef- sas. “Because who wants Utah, and Republican gov- tions, Republican Sen. Matt
geting their rights. fect on those who want to go and be asked about ernors in Tennessee and McKee asked Herzig if she is
In South Dakota, a law- to speak out against new their genitalia in front of a Mississippi are expected to transgender.
maker invoked “furries” restrictions and could do bunch of strangers? Espe- sign similar bans into law. When she said yes, he
— people who dress up lasting damage to a com- cially strangers in power.” Arkansas and Alabama asked: “Do you have a pe-
as animals — when talk- munity of trans youth that is So far this year, at least 150 have bans that were tem- nis?”
ing about gender-affirming already marginalized. bills targeting transgender porarily blocked by federal The question was met with
care. In Montana, a leg- “I feel like that’s what people have been intro- judges. jeers and audible gasps
islator compared parents they’re trying to do, to duced, which is the highest The push has included ef- in the packed committee
supporting their children in keep us from coming and in a single year, according forts in some states to re- room.q

Feds promise to trim backlog of health

care investigations

health agencies last year, a Health insurer Anthem, for Health Insurance Portabil-
number that has grown tre- example, was forced to ity and Accountability Act.
mendously — 69% — over pay the government a re- HHS' Office of Civil Rights is
the last five years, the fed- cord $16 million fine in 2018 responsible for investigat-
eral Health and Human Ser- after a data breach affect- ing those complaints.
vices agency announced. ing about 79 million people The office will reorganize in
Some complaints can take — including names, birth- an effort to more quickly in-
years to investigate. dates, Social Security num- vestigate such complaints,
A computer-run, modular device that customizes drug infusions About two-thirds of the bers and medical IDs. the agency said Monday.
for individual patient's is seen inside a patient's room in the cases involve potential vio- Health care workers and The office will keep a dedi-
COVID-19 Intensive Care Unit at a medical center May 8, 2020, lations of health informa- patients can file federal cated division to investi-
in Seattle. tion privacy and security, a complaints against provid- gate HIPAA complaints,
Associated Press
problem that has worsened ers, insurers, and govern- with a focus on the growing
By AMANDA SEITZ against health care provid- in recent years because of ment agencies when they segment of cybersecurity
Associated Press ers, insurers or government data breaches and cyber- think patients are being breaches. It will also have
WASHINGTON (AP) — Fed- agencies by patients who security hacks, the agency discriminated against or three new different divi-
eral officials said Mon- claim their civil rights or pri- said. protected health informa- sions with staff that focus
day they're working to cut vacy have been violated. In 2021, more than 700 tion has been shared, a on each of the following:
down on a growing back- Americans filed more than large breaches of health violation of a longstanding policy, strategic planning,
log of complaints lodged 51,000 complaints against information were reported. law known as HIPAA, or the and enforcement.q