Mom 'Forced' to Leave Alabama As Ban Prohibits Trans Healthcare for Son
Kay Ivey signed a bill last week making it a felony to prescribe hormone medications to transgender people under the age of 19.The bill has sparked outcry from transgender and civil rights advocates, who argue the bill bans families from seeking medically necessary care for their children.
The bill states such medications "should not be presented to or determined for minors who are incapable of comprehending the negative implications."For Heather, the bill is "heartbreaking" as it means her 15-year-old son will not be able to continue with his transition.
Up to now, Heather said her son had been receiving care from a doctor at the University of Alabama's health department, UAB Medicine, in Birmingham."It's so hard to wrap my head around, that I'm being forced to leave my home so that I don't get charged with a felony for giving my son medication that was prescribed to him by a fantastic medical doctor," Heather told Newsweek."I've been estranged from my family for decades and I just got back here and I feel like I'm home again.
And I'm being forced to leave. I really don't have words to describe what this feels like."In the time since moving to Alabama and renewing access to her son's testosterone prescription, she said his health has begun to deteriorate."My son's period had begun while he was off his medication," she writes on her GoFundMe page. "He was hiding the fact out of shame and was avoiding liquids so he wouldn't have to deal with the dysphoria he was feeling.
