Arkansas GOP Gov. Asa Hutchinson vetoed a bill Monday that would have made the state the first in the nation to restrict gender-affirming medical care for transgender minors.
Hutchinson suggested the bill was well-intended but called it a “vast government overreach.”
He also said the measure, if signed into law, would have created “new standards of legislative interference with physicians and parents as they deal with some of the most complex and sensitive matters involving young people,” according to NBC News.
Hutchinson said at a news conference that the law would create “new standards of legislative interference with physicians and parents as they deal with some of the most complex and sensitive matters involving young people.”
“I’m hopeful that my action will cause conservative Republican legislators to think through the issue again, and hopefully come up with a more restrained approach that allows a study of the science and ethics surrounding the issue before acting.”
The Republican-controlled state Senate passed the bill last week. Hutchinson said he expects the General Assembly will attempt to override his veto with a simple majority, NBC also reports.
