Marge Updates Her Sweeping Transphobia Bill
Mike Lee dishes on sunscreen regulation with AOC and (perhaps) Kyrsten Sinema while Marjorie Taylor Greene wants to make transgender healthcare a felony.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) has changed her sweeping anti-trans bill in the House to narrow its committee jurisdiction.
“I just changed it to be a felony because the way it was written before, it was assigned to four different committees. I was really having a hard time getting it out of any of the committees, taking it to a felony accomplishes all of it and brings it into one committee,” said MTG.
In other words, by increasing the penalty for transgender healthcare from a misdemeanor to a felony, MTG can now shop her "Protecting Children's Innocence Act" directly to the House Judiciary Committee chaired by Rep. Jim Jordan, which is the committee that handles legislating new criminal penalties at the felony level.
In stark contrast to its seemingly innocuous name, MTG's bill would prohibit any government facility or physician employed by the government from administering gender-affirming care to anyone, regardless of age. It would also prohibit Congress from authorizing any funds for gender-affirming care, even in the health care plans of government employees, while making it illegal to teach gender-affirming care in U.S. medical schools.
“Now my problem are the conservatives who think it’s a state issue versus a federal government issue,” MTG added. “Oddly, it’s the conservatives and the Freedom Caucus that think that parents' rights should be taken away by states. They think that’s a state right. I don’t know what land of conservative that is."
Senate-side, J.D. Vance (R-OH) has introduced companion legislation to MTG's House bill. The senate version cosponsors are Vance, Mike Braun (R-IN), and Tommy Tuberville (R-AL).
More House Context: In March, MTG reintroduced legislation to criminalize gender-affirming care for minors and accused Democrats who support it of “coming for our children.” said MTG, who opposes what she calls a “radical trans sexual agenda” but is often criticized for her bigoted views of trans folk.
More Senate Context: In February, Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) introduced the Protect Our Kids From Child Abuse Act, which would make medical practitioners liable to “any individual who suffers bodily injury or harm to mental health (including any physical, psychological, emotional, or physiological harm) that is attributable, in whole or in part, to a gender-transition procedure performed on the individual when the individual was a minor.
We’ll keep following this story and keep you up to day with any developments...
— Arturo, Pablo
Might Congress Deregulate Sunscreen?
Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) found common ground over the summer on social media. Ocasio-Cortez posted a video on X (formerly Twitter) discussing how sunscreen regulations have held the United States back in allowing for better sunscreens to be sold.
AOC highlighted how the rest of the world has better sunscreens than the US. “U.S. sunscreens are far behind the rest of the world. I was in South Korea earlier this year and it is so clear how far advanced the world is on sunscreen,” Ocasio-Cortez said in her video clip.
Lee thanked Ocasio-Cortez on social media for talking about sunscreen, saying, “Thanks for raising this issue. FDA seems to stretch the definition of the word 'drug' beyond its actual meaning … If this is an agency choice, it should be scrutinized and adjusted where needed.”
Capitol Press asked Lee about deregulating sunscreen the junior senator said he had “not found the right package” to do it. “I need to figure out something to do on that because it’s important. I was not really aware of the issue until [Ocasio-Cortez’s post]. I was like, ‘I’m all over this’. Thank you for reminding me.”
Lee pitched Kyrsten Sinema (I-AZ) on sunscreen deregulation during afternoon votes in the Senate on Tuesday, saying it would “on brand” for the Arizona independent because she is from Arizona. Sinema seemed surprised that AOC would want to deregulate anything, but did not dismiss the Lee's idea of joining their charge against sunscreen regulations.
— Arturo, Pablo
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