The Trump administration and its allies in hostile state governments have made clear they aim to eliminate access to abortion across the country and to exclude transgender people from public life. One of their first steps is outlawing abortion and gender-affirming care and punishing providers, patients, and supporters.
These anti-trans forces will no doubt be emboldened by the recent Supreme Court ruling that a Tennessee law banning gender-affirming hormone therapy for young people does not violate the Constitution and can remain on the books. The decision is another devastating attack on transgender youth, their families, and their health care providers.
Even before the Supreme Court ruling, many states were weighing bills to criminalize people who receive abortions, as well as the people who support them – even across state lines where abortion care is legal, like New York. Texas has already arrested and charged a midwife and an associate with illegally performing abortions in violation of the state’s ban on abortion care.
Meanwhile, the Trump administration launched a tipline urging people to report providers they suspect are offering gender-affirming care, likely so they can be singled out for professional punishment, or worse.
New Yorkers broadly support trans and abortion rights, and our state protects the right to abortion and gender-affirming care. In the past two years, New York lawmakers passed “shield laws” to make it harder for other states or the federal government to punish those who seek, provide, or facilitate these types of care. But there are still gaps in these protections that hostile governments could take advantage of.
In June, New York lawmakers passed a bill through the state legislature that closes those gaps so that abortion and gender-affirming care providers can continue their critical work knowing that New York has their backs. Gov. Hochul should sign this legislation without delay.
The need for this bill is clear. Anti-trans Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton demonstrated this when he issued demands to private entities, like the Seattle Children’s Hospital, seeking information about gender-affirming care patients and providers.
New York law doesn’t prevent private institutions – like hospitals, clinics, and nonprofits – from turning over sensitive information in response to a similar demand. This leaves New York providers and patients at risk of having their information used against them.
The bill awaiting Gov. Hochul’s signature would close this and other loopholes in our existing shield laws and strengthen protections against sharing information with hostile state actors.
The legislation would also ensure our shield law’s protections extend to everyone who needs them. Right now, certain protections only cover physicians, physicians’ assistants, and specialists’ assistants. But many other professionals provide gender-affirming and abortion care.
For example, therapists are integral parts of gender-affirming care teams, offering affirmation and counseling, as well as letters that are required before a patient can receive other types of gender-affirming care. Speech pathologists also deliver gender-affirming care, helping trans people to find the voices that reflect who they are. And advanced practice clinicians, like nurse practitioners and licensed midwives, may also be abortion providers.
These types of providers are just as likely to come under attack for providing needed care as doctors, as the arrest of the midwife in Texas shows.
The legislation on the governor’s desk would make clear that our shield laws protect all types of providers who offer reproductive or gender-affirming care.
These providers do heroic and often life-saving work. Abortion and gender-affirming care are critical to people’s ability to participate equally in society, support their families, and live authentic lives.
We are in the midst of an unprecedented attack on trans people, women, and abortion access and there’s no time to waste. Gov. Hochul must show up for them and for New York health care providers by strengthening our shield law protections now.
