ANNAPOLIS, MD (AP) – The Maryland Senate approved a bill protecting so called “gender-affirming” treatment. The Democrat-controlled Senate voted 33-13 for Senate Bill 119 that would provide the same legal protection offered by the state for abortions. It protects medical records of patients in Maryland from criminal, civil, and administrative actions relating to gender-affirming care, if records were sought in investigations started in another state. Republicans who opposed the bill argued the measure would expand access to youths who could decide to have treatments that could have a permanent effect on them when they are at a vulnerable period in their lives. The bill now goes to the Maryland House, where a similar bill has been introduced.
