Relates to prescription labels for gonadotropin-releasing hormone agonists, pubertal suppressants, anabolic steroids, alpha reductase inhibitors, progestins…

Showing the cosponsors who are on Agora, A to Z. The official record may list more.

• Democratic19

Shown in neutral colors by design; Agora is non-partisan.

◆ The sponsor's argument

Why Erik Bottcher says this is needed

Transgender and gender non-conforming individuals are under attack in the US, with many states and even the federal government moving to restrict gender affirming care for gender non-conforming youth across the country. An executive order recently put into effect rescinds protections for gender affirming care, including urging the Department of Justice to investigate medications prescribed and to prosecute providers, claiming gender affirming care is illegal under laws that prohibit "female genital mutilation." On the state level, the situation is still grim. 26 states have some form of ban on gender affirming care for those under 18. 39.4% or 118,300 trans youth live in a state that bans gender affirming care. Additional states have considered banning gender affirming care for people up to 26 years old, and many states do not allow public funds, such as medicare, to be spent on gender affirm- ing care. Gender affirming care has a life changing effect on the individuals. Studies have shown that youth (13-20) who have access to hormone replacement drugs or puberty blockers have 60% lower rates of moderate to severe depression and 73% lower rates of self-harm or suicidal ideol- ogy than those who did not receive these medications. These medications are necessary for the countless gender non-conforming individuals who are struggling in the national mental health crisis, and due to past legislation passed in New York we can help these individuals who need it most. In 2023, New York passed a telehealth shield law (Chapter 138 of the laws of 2023) to provide broad protection to doctors based in New York serving patients in those states via telehealth. These protections include shielding New York health care practitioners against states that may try to impose criminal sanctions upon them and protection from professional disciplinary action or adverse action from medical malprac- tice insurers. Thanks to New York's shield law, providers based in New York are able to help patients based in hostile states each month, help- ing gender non-conforming individuals who may not otherwise be able to access care. This bill builds on New York's shield law, by providing further protection to doctors prescribing medications for the treatment of gender dysphoria to patients in hostile states. Modeled after a law recently enacted in New York regarding mifepristone and misoprostol, (Chapter 7 of the Laws of New York, 2025) this bill would allow prescri- bers to request that the dispensing pharmacy include the name of their practice, rather than their name, on the prescription label for gonado- tropin-releasing hormone agonists, pubertal suppressants, anabolic ster- oids, alpha reductase inhibitors, progestins, or drug classes for hormone replacement therapy for treatment of gender dysphoria. Like- wise, dispensing practitioners would be allowed to use the name of their healthcare practice instead of their own name on the label.

This is the sponsor's own case for the bill, quoted from their memorandum. It is not Agora's description of what the bill does.