Nevada Republican Gov. Joe Lombardo has just signed a new piece of legislation into law that will force insurance companies in the state to provide payment for a person’s sex change procedures, including surgeries performed on minors. What a betrayal of legitimate conservative values. Guess he’s one of them Republicans In Name Only (RINO) gallivanting out and about in the wilderness of the desert.
According to The Daily Wire, the move by Lombardo is coming as GOP governors from 20 states in the country have signed bills that ban these kind of surgeries for patients under the age of 18. In the state of Kentucky, Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear’s vetoed such a bill, but the Republicans in the state legislature overrode it, proving that there are still folks in the Bluegrass State who care about preserving and protecting children, and thus, the future of our country.
“Except as otherwise provided in this section, an insurer that issues a policy of health insurance shall include in the policy coverage for the medically necessary treatment of conditions relating to gender dysphoria and gender incongruence. Such coverage must include coverage of medically necessary psychosocial and surgical intervention and any other medically necessary treatment for such disorders,” SB 163 states.
Lombardo, who was also slammed by conservatives last month after he signed a bill that would make his state a sanctuary for what’s being termed as “abortion tourism,” stated that he would like for folks to actually read the bill before they voiced their opposition to it. Oh, so we’re all about reading bills now, are we? Where was that attitude years ago when former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi shoved Obamacare down our necks?
“I implore people to read the bill in its entirety,” he said to reporters. “And you will see it’s not as draconian or detrimental or immoral as people are portraying it to be.”
“The law states that insurance providers, including Medicaid, are allowed to create specifications that must be met before they are required to cover transgender procedures on minors. This includes allowing insurance companies to consult WPATH guidelines before approving a procedure like a double mastectomy on a girl who identifies as a boy. Another guideline was allowing insurance companies to provide parental consent “unless the insured is expressly authorized by law to consent on his or her own behalf,” the Daily Wire said.
It’s worth noting that every other member of the Republican Party in the state Senate and Assembly voted against the legislation.
Sigal Chattah, the Nevada RNC Committeewoman, took an opportunity to get on Twitter and put Lombardo on full blast in a post that said the governor was “becoming a laughingstock across the country.”
I was joking that #NVDems must be microdosing him – unfortunately Nevada’s “GOP” Governor is becoming a laughingstock across the nation. https://t.co/vHKhTF7g79
— Sigal Chattah (@Chattah4Nevada) June 13, 2023
She then suggested that he put his signature down on the bill as a means of garnering support from Democrats to help bring the Oakland Athletics, a professional baseball team, to the city of Las Vegas. So let me get this straight. Lombardo could potentially be putting the safety and health of American children at risk for a baseball team? This fellow is morally bankrupt.
Individuals in the state have voiced their concern over some of the implications for Christians and other religious insurance providers that might morally object to the law.
“This law can fund surgical interventions for a child of any age who suffers from gender dysphoria,” Pacific Justice Institute lawyer Emily Mimnaugh went on to say in a statement to the Nevada Globe. “This law provides no protection for a religious organization, affiliated with an insurer, who objects to these surgeries and its mandate. This law is pushing childhood surgeries forward and pushing people of faith to the side. The new mandate is inconsistent with current state law and contrary to our constitutional guarantee of religious liberty.”
The law will take full effect on the first of July.
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