Arkansas Legislature Passes Measure Letting Children Sue If They’re Injured by a Sex-Change Procedure

Legislation, ,
Above: Rep. Bentley presents S.B. 199 in committee.

On Wednesday the Arkansas House of Representatives passed a measure to protect children from medical malpractice in sex-change procedures.

S.B. 199 by Sen. Gary Stubblefield (R – Branch) and Rep. Mary Bentley (R – Perryville) lets a child who undergoes a sex-change procedure sue the healthcare provider who performed procedure if the child suffers any injury as a result.

The bill would let a child file a lawsuit if he or she experiences:

  • A physical or physiological injury from the sex-change procedure
  • A psychological or emotional injury from the sex-change procedure
  • An injury from treatments related to the sex-change procedure
  • An injury from the after-effects of the sex-change procedure

S.B. 199 also outlines informed-consent processes for sex-change surgeries, puberty blockers, and cross-sex hormones, and it contains protections for healthcare providers who decline to perform sex-reassignment procedures.

More and more, scientific evidence shows sex-reassignment procedures are harmful to children.

Research published this year calls into question the original studies that encouraged doctors to give puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones to children with gender dysphoria.

In 2021 a major hospital in Sweden announced that it would no longer give puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones to kids.

Last year the U.K.’s National Health Services closed its Tavistock gender clinic that gave puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones to children for many years. Families have indicated their children were subjected to sex-reassignment at that clinic despite an obvious lack of scientific evidence in favor of the procedures and inadequate mental health screenings for children with gender dysphoria.

A gender-identity clinic in Scotland faces similar accusations from former patients who say healthcare professionals rushed them into sex-change procedures.

And last July the U.S. Food and Drug Administration finally added a warning label to puberty blockers in America after biological girls developed symptoms of tumor-like masses in the brain.

S.B. 199 will help protect children, and it will provide them and their families with legal recourse if they are injured by a sex-change procedure.

The bill now goes to the governor to become law.

The Following Representatives Voted For S.B. 199

  • Andrews
  • Barker
  • Beaty Jr.
  • Beck
  • Bentley
  • M. Berry
  • S. Berry
  • Breaux
  • Brooks
  • K. Brown
  • M. Brown
  • Burkes
  • Joey Carr
  • John Carr
  • Cavenaugh
  • C. Cooper
  • Cozart
  • Crawford
  • Duffield
  • Duke
  • Eaves
  • Eubanks
  • Evans
  • C. Fite
  • L. Fite
  • Furman
  • Gazaway
  • Gonzales
  • Gramlich
  • Haak
  • Hawk
  • D. Hodges
  • G. Hodges
  • Holcomb
  • Hollowell
  • Jean
  • L. Johnson
  • Ladyman
  • Long
  • Lundstrum
  • Lynch
  • Maddox
  • J. Mayberry
  • McAlindon
  • McClure
  • McCollum
  • M. McElroy
  • McGrew
  • B. McKenzie
  • McNair
  • S. Meeks
  • Miller
  • Milligan
  • J. Moore
  • K. Moore
  • Painter
  • Pearce
  • Pilkington
  • Puryear
  • Ray
  • Richmond
  • Rose
  • Rye
  • Schulz
  • R. Scott Richardson
  • Steimel
  • Tosh
  • Underwood
  • Unger
  • Vaught
  • Walker
  • Watson
  • Wing
  • Womack
  • Wooldridge
  • Wooten

The Following Representatives Voted Against S.B. 199

  • F. Allen
  • Clowney
  • A. Collins
  • Ennett
  • K. Ferguson
  • V. Flowers
  • D. Garner
  • Hudson
  • Magie
  • McCullough
  • Nicks
  • J. Richardson
  • Scott
  • T. Shephard
  • Springer
  • Wardlaw
  • D. Whitaker

The Following Representative Voted “Present” on S.B. 199

  • Dalby

The Following Representatives Did Not Vote

  • Achor
  • D. Ferguson
  • Fortner
  • Perry
  • Warren
  • Mr. Speaker

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Senate Committee Passes Bill Expanding Interscholastic Opportunities for Home Schoolers

Home School, ,

On Wednesday the Senate Education Committee passed a bill expanding interscholastic opportunities for home schoolers.

S.B. 361 by Sen. Matt McKee (R – Pearcy) and Rep. Cameron Cooper (R – Romance) amends Arkansas’ “Tim Tebow” law that lets home schoolers participate in athletics and other interscholastic activities at their local public schools. The “Tebow” law is named after former NFL quarterback Tim Tebow was able to play football as a home schooler thanks to a similar law in Florida.

S.B. 361 makes it easier for home schoolers to participate in an activity in a neighboring school district if their local district doesn’t offer the activity.

It also clarifies requirements in the “Tebow” law about enrollment in public school classes and about the waiting period for students who withdraw from a public school to start home schooling.

As we said when lawmakers passed it in 2013, the “Tim Tebow” law is about school choice.

It empowers families by providing children with interscholastic options as well as educational options. That’s how it should be.

Last summer Family Council obtained government data showing at least 463 home schooled students utilized the “Tim Tebow” law in 2021.

The “Tim Tebow” law is a good law that Family Council has been pleased to support over the years.

You Can Read S.B. 361 Here.

Articles appearing on this website are written with the aid of Family Council’s researchers and writers.

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Science Continues to Link Marijuana Use With Health Problems

Marijuana

Scientific research continues to link marijuana use with health problems.

A new study presented at the American College of Cardiology’s Annual Scientific Session found people who used marijuana daily were 34% more likely to develop coronary artery disease compared with people who have never used marijuana.

Researchers arrived at these conclusions based on a review of health and lifestyle information from a group of approximately 175,000 people.

A separate study by the Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center recently found that vaping CBD — a substance found in marijuana — can cause more severe lung damage than vaping nicotine.

These studies further underscore how marijuana legalization and marijuana use can harm public health.

A study published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal found adults under age 45 who frequently use marijuana are roughly twice as likely to suffer from a heart attack as adults who do not use marijuana.

A study published last year in the journal of the Radiological Society of North America found marijuana smoke may be more harmful to lungs than cigarette smoke, after researchers examined some 150 lung scans from marijuana smokers, tobacco-only smokers, and nonsmokers.

A 2019 study found that regular marijuana use increased the risk of heart problems for young people, and a 2017 study reported marijuana smokers were three times more likely to die of hypertension.

A 2022 study published in The Lancet determined that using marijuana with high levels of THC was linked to an increased risk of psychosis.

A 2021 report published in the Journal of the American Medical Association found self-harm rates rose 46% among men ages 21 to 39 in states where commercial marijuana sales were legalized.

A 2019 study published in The Lancet found using marijuana with THC levels exceeding 10% increased the odds of a person suffering a psychotic episode.

The list goes on and on and on.

All of this underscores what we have said for years: Marijuana may be many things, but “harmless” simply is not one of them.

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