Republican lawmakers in Arkansas override Gov. Asa Hutchinson, ban sex reassignment surgery on children

The state of Arkansas became the scene of a spectacular mutiny Tuesday as Republican lawmakers turned against their own governor to push through a ban of sexual reassignment surgery on children.

Just a day after Republican Gov. Asa Hutchinson caved to pressure from the left with a veto on HB1570, Republicans in the state legislature voted to override him.

Arkansas Republicans turn on governor

The SAFE Act bans healthcare providers from administering sexual reassignment surgeries and drugs such as puberty blockers to minors.

Hutchinson called it an example of government overreach and expressed a resigned attitude with the “culture war” on Monday, signaling he preferred to “send a message of tolerance and diversity” rather than defend biological reality and the welfare of vulnerable kids.

He also lamented that the bill would set “new standards of legislative interference with physicians and parents as they deal with some of the most complex and sensitive matters dealing with young people.”

But the tables turned Tuesday when Arkansas Republicans in both state houses voted to override Hutchinson, in a stunning rebuke of the spineless governor.

The Arkansas house voted 72-25, and the Senate followed with a 25-8 vote.

Left outraged

Left-wing groups such as the American Civil Liberties Union responded with outrage to the override, with the ACLU vowing to bring a legal challenge against the “discriminatory crusade against trans youth.”

“This is a sad day for Arkansas, but this fight is not over — and we’re in it for the long haul,” the group’s Arkansas director Holly Dickson said.

Perverted ideologues argue that so-called “gender confirming” treatment promotes the well-being of children with gender dysphoria, but such treatments are experimental in nature and, those with common sense agree, dangerous for children unable to properly consent to a sex change.

The Arkansas-based Family Council said that gender transitions can “leave children sterilized and scarred for life” and applauded lawmakers for their “leadership, their moral courage, and their resolve to do what is right.”

The standoff in Arkansas comes as conservative reaction to transgender activism has rippled through red states, with differing degrees of success. A similar scenario recently played out in South Dakota, where Republicans unsuccessfully rebelled against Gov. Kristi Noem over a bill on women’s sports.

The post Republican lawmakers in Arkansas override Gov. Asa Hutchinson, ban sex reassignment surgery on children first appeared on Conservative Institute.