Bill that would allow medical professionals to deny care based on conscience clears hurdle in House
However, several Democrats spoke in opposition to the bill, the first being Rep. Zooey Zephyr, D- Missoula, the first trans woman elected to the statehouse who serves on the House Judiciary Committee where the bill was heard last week. Medical professionals and organizations had opposed it in committee.
Zephyr said Regier’s characterization the bill was focused on procedures and not people doesn’t accurately reflect its broad language, including definitions for health care service that span from research to any service performed or provided by a medical practitioner.
Zephyr spoke to the impact the bill could have on the trans community, as she and advocates did in committee. She said that the likely consequence would be denial will be based on diagnosis.
“That is inherently discriminatory, because you cannot parse my diagnoses from who I am,” she said. “To deny me based on my diagnosis of gender dysphoria is to deny me based on my being a trans woman.”