Nebraska Democratic Senator furiously protests trans care ban for minors

Nebraska state lawmakers passed a bill Friday banning transgender medical care for minors, over the angry objections of protesters and a Democratic lawmaker who chanted on the floor of the chamber in protest

State Senator Machaela Cavanaugh repeatedly shouted in protest during her speaking time on the floor, “Transgender people belong here, we need transgender people, we love transgender people.”

In March, Cavanaugh embarked on an epic three-week filibuster to oppose the gender-affirming care bill, winning her national media attention and a coveted profile in Vogue, but also drawing criticism for blocking all legislative business in Nebraska.

In her remarks on Friday, Cavanaugh vowed she would not give up her fight on behalf of transgender voters, saying, “You matter. You matter and I fight for you. I won’t stop.’

The measure passed bans “sex reassignment surgery” and places restrictions on hormone therapy for transgender people under the age of 19, as well as a ban on abortions after 12 weeks gestation, after combining the two issues into one bill.

Protesters gathered on Friday to oppose LB574, which restricts gender-affirming care for trans youth and bans abortions after 12 weeks of pregnancy

Friday’s debate was briefly interrupted when protesters stood up on a room’s balcony and shouted obscenities at conservative lawmakers, throwing apparently bloodied tampons on the floor.

Nebraska State Patrol cleared both balconies and said at least six people have been arrested.

Authorities confirmed that a state agent was attacked during the incident after a woman punched him in the chest when he stopped her from pushing past him.

As lawmakers began voting, hundreds of protesters in the Capitol rotunda chanted, “Shame! Shame! Shame! Shame!’ just outside the room.

Hundreds of businesses and medical professionals signed letters warning that both the abortion ban and trans health restrictions would push businesses and doctors out of the state.

A letter filed Friday, signed by more than 1,200 Nebraska medical professionals, called the bill “a direct attack on our state’s medical community.”

Senator Kathleen Kauth, author of the transgender health measure, has repeatedly referred to an increase in children identifying as transgender as “a social contagion.”

She said the measure is intended to protect children from doing something they may regret later.

“It doesn’t mean we hate them at all,” she said. “On the contrary: we love them.”

Benjamin Buras, 40, and Sara Crawford, 33, (circled) were both arrested in connection with the incident involving the trooper

Footage posted on social media shows police clashing with other protesters outside the venue, whose chants of “Shame, shame!” could be heard by voting legislators

Conservative lawmakers enlisted a visibly sick colleague so they would have enough votes to end a filibuster and pass a bill containing both measures.

Nebraska’s single-house legislature, dominated by Republicans, voted 33-15 to pass the bill, known as LB 574. Republican Governor Jim Pillen, who pushed for the bill, has promised to sign it into law.

Nebraska’s 12-week abortion ban includes exceptions for rape, incest, and saving the mother’s life.

Opponents of the measure unsuccessfully sought an exception for fatal fetal abnormalities and explicit protection of doctors from criminal charges for performing a disputed abortion.

The bill will also prevent transgender people under the age of 19 from undergoing gender confirmation surgery. In Nebraska, people under the age of 19 are considered minors.

It would also restrict the use of hormone treatments and puberty blockers in minors, putting the state’s chief physician — a political appointee who is an ear, nose, and throat doctor — in charge of setting the rules for those therapies.

The Nebraska legislature voted 33 to 14 to end debate on a bill that would ban abortion after 12 weeks and gender-affirming care for minors

Abortion and gender-affirming medical treatment for transgender youth are at the heart of the so-called culture war raging in American politics, with Republican-dominated legislatures across the country banning or sharply restricting both.

According to the Human Rights Campaign, an LGBTQ rights group, Republicans will have introduced more than 500 bills affecting LGBTQ people by 2023, with at least 49 passed.

North Carolina also passed a 12-week abortion ban this week, in addition to a slew of restrictions enacted in states after the U.S. Supreme Court last year overturned the 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling that established a nationwide right to abortion.

Fourteen US states now have an almost complete ban on abortion at any time during pregnancy.