The Georgia Senate passed a bill Tuesday that would ban the state’s insurance plan from covering transgender care after a heated debate.
Sponsor Blake Tillery. R-Vidalia said the five-page bill was simple.
“Senate Bill 39 in no uncertain terms makes clear that you cannot use state taxpayer dollars in any form for transgender surgeries,” Tillery said. “That is the simplicity of it. That is the complexity of it. That is the entire bill.”
Sen. Nan Orrock, D-Atlanta, said the bill constitutes a violation of equal protection.
“What on earth empowers us to go in, in the middle of a year, when we’ve already signed up for our insurance, and dictate that certain procedures are no longer going to be covered for adults with transgender issues?” Orrock said.
Tillery said the bill does not change anything in the middle of the year but makes it clear to all state employees during open enrollment that tax dollars are not going for gender-affirming care and transgender surgeries.
