Gender-Affirming Care Restrictions Added to Senate NDAA

The Senate version of the annual defense policy bill would ban the U.S. military from covering surgeries for transgender soldiers, a development made possible by Sen. Joe Manchin (IW.Va.) who joined Republicans during committee votes.

Added as an amendment during last month’s Senate Armed Services Committee markup of the bill — known as the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) — it would “prohibit the use of funds available to the Department of Defense and any installation of the Department of Defense to perform or facilitate sex reassignment surgeries,” according to the text of the legislation released Monday night.

Lawmakers also included language that would prohibit the military health system from providing transgender military children under the age of 18 with hormone therapy, puberty blockers and “any other medical intervention for the treatment of gender dysphoria that could result in sterilization.”

The amendments passed by a 13-12 vote, with Manchin supporting all 12 Republican members of the committee.

Another provision, which would have banned gender reassignment in Pentagon records, failed along party lines in a 12-13 vote.

The inclusion of such text in the Senate’s NDAA, which still needs to be approved by the full House, comes as a surprise.

The GOP-controlled House has repeatedly sought to ban coverage of gender-affirming care for transgender service members, with the House last month passing its version of the bill replete with efforts to cut such services, among other provisions on the cultural war.

The Senate Armed Services Committee, however, has so far managed to avoid such changes introduced to its NDAA under the Democratic-led panel.

Similar provisions in both bills increase the chances that restrictions on gender-affirming care for LGBTQ soldiers and family members could be passed into law.

While the committee’s markup is still far from concrete — with the measure needing to pass the Senate floor before being reconciled with the House version and signed into law by the president — it sets the stage for a showdown between the upper and lower chambers over legislation that typically enjoys bipartisan support.

Some other controversial measures were also included in the Senate’s NDAA, including one that would prohibit the establishment of new diversity, equity and inclusion positions, as well as the filling of vacancies in those positions. Similar language appeared in the House version of the bill.

Another set of amendments would require women to register with the Selective Service, although such a proposal is unlikely to pass the full Senate and is not included in the House’s NDAA.

This story originally appeared on thehill.com read the full story