Anonymous ID: ce65b5 Sept. 12, 2023, 10:14 p.m. No.19541126   🗄️.is đź”—kun   >>1131 >>1169 >>1442 >>1615 >>1630

>>19540994

City Council votes to make Pittsburgh 'sanctuary city' for gender-affirming care

 

PITTSBURGH —

 

City council on Tuesday approved a bill that would cement access to gender-affirming care in Pittsburgh.

 

The bill, which received a unanimous 8-0 vote, would amend a 2011 ordinance that designated Pittsburgh a "Human Rights City."

 

The amendment will shield care providers, as well as recipients and their legal guardians, from out-of-state investigations or prosecution for receiving gender-affirming care. It mirrors a move last year protecting abortion providers.

 

Another measure introduced last month would de-prioritize local enforcement of any bans on care if one is ever implemented at the federal or state level.

 

The measures define gender-affirming care as the "range of social, psychological, behavioral, and medical interventions designed to support and affirm an individual's gender identity when it conflicts with the gender they were assigned at birth."

 

Pennsylvania currently does not have any laws restricting access to gender-affirming care. Several states, including nearby West Virginia, have enacted laws this year restricting access to this type of care for minors.

 

The bill was sponsored by Councilmembers Barbara Warwick, Bobby Wilson and Bruce A. Kraus, all Democrats. Warwick told our partners at TribLIVE, "If Pittsburgh’s going to be a city where we prioritize human rights and LGBTQIA rights, it’s a good law to have on the books."

 

“Gender-affirming health care is life-saving health care,” said Maria Montaño, a spokeswoman for Mayor Ed Gainey, who identifies as trans, after the bill was introduced, according to the Trib. “I can say that because it saved my life.”

 

https://www.wtae.com/article/pittsburgh-gender-affirming-care-sanctuary-city-council/45106756