This week, several major pieces of Arizona legislation, all supported by Do No Harm Action, moved closer to becoming law.
These bills would further safety and fairness in the Grand Canyon State by establishing essential protections for children and parents from the harms of gender ideology and cracking down on racial discrimination in government hiring.
One bill, HB 2085, would prohibit healthcare professionals from providing sex-denying medical interventions to minors.
These interventions include puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, and surgical procedures intended to modify an individual’s sex traits to appear like those of the other sex.
Additionally, the bill would prevent healthcare professionals from referring children to other health professionals for sex-denying medical procedures, and would prevent taxpayer dollars from funding any organization that provides gender transition procedures to any individual who is under eighteen years of age.
Testifying in support of this legislation was Do No Harm Action Patient Advocate Chloe Cole, who is herself a detransitioner and a victim of gender ideology.
“There is no good reason to subject kids as young as 11 or 12 to these experimental and irreversible treatments,” Cole wrote in an op-ed in support of the legislation. “It’s far better to let their minds and bodies develop naturally, until they can make fully informed decisions as adults.”
Another bill, SB 1015, would hold healthcare professionals who provide sex-denying medical procedures to minors “strictly and personally liable” for all costs associated with any detransition procedures sought by the minors within 25 years.
The bill would allow those who undergo sex-denying medical procedures to file a lawsuit, before they reach 26, against the healthcare professional for the costs of the procedure.
The healthcare professional who provided this sex-denying procedure would also be liable for the harms associated with the procedure.
“When doctors hurt kids, they should be forced to help those same kids regain as much health and stability as possible,” wrote Cole, who also testified in support of SB 1015.
HB 2249, meanwhile, expands and affirms parents’ rights to raise their children, with a particular focus on ensuring that schools do not secretly transition children behind parents’ backs.
Do No Harm Action’s January Littlejohn, whose daughter was socially transitioned without her consent, testified in support of this bill.
“Socially transitioning a child is not neutral or benign, it is a powerful psychosocial intervention that can solidify a child’s distress and is the first step toward irreversible medical interventions,” she testified.
And next, SB 1013 would ensure that Arizona cannot establish policies or practices that require a person to be hired based on anything other than the person’s merit.
Under the bill, the state would not be able to manipulate or influence the composition of employees based on race, ethnicity, sex, or national origin, except to ensure color-blind and race-neutral hiring in accordance with state and federal antidiscrimination laws.
Merit under this bill refers to qualifications, skills, knowledge, experience, and demonstrated ability to perform the essential duties of a job.
Do No Harm Action’s Dr. Tabia Lee testified in support of this bill, explaining the harms of discriminatory hiring and how DEI ideology erodes merit.
“This bill reminds hiring managers that holding their ideological allegiances above the law of the land has consequences,” she testified.
Do No Harm Action is proud to support these bills.
It’s essential that merit, not discriminatory ideology, motivates hiring decisions, and that children and parents are protected from the harms of gender ideology.