Republicans in the Georgia Senate hijacked a bill aimed at increasing access to home health care services by adding two last-minute amendments that would further restrict access to gender-affirming care for transgender Georgians. Both amendments and the bill passed in a party-line vote.
The first amendment to House Bill 54, introduced by Savannah Republican Sen. Ben Watson, would prevent doctors from prescribing puberty blockers to children diagnosed with gender dysphoria, a feeling of distress that comes from one’s gender identity not matching one’s body.
Watson, a doctor who specializes in internal medicine and geriatrics, said that the bill would not prevent adults over the age of 18 from seeking gender-affirming care.
“If you’re an adult and you choose to do that, then that is on you,” Watson said.
Another amendment to the bill, authored by Vidalia Republican Sen. Blake Tillery, would bar Georgia’s state health insurance plan from covering gender-affirming care for state employees and their dependents, and prohibit Georgia’s state-owned hospitals from providing such care. It mimics Senate Bill 39, which passed out of the Senate during the 2025 legislative session but did not make it to a vote on the House floor.