The 3 types of treatment trans youth are banned from getting in Arkansas under the new bill

• Arkansas passed a bill that will ban doctors from providing gender-affirming care to trans youth.
• The law, if signed into effect, bans HRT, puberty blockers, and surgeries for those under 18.
• Puberty blockers and HRT can be life-saving procedures for trans youth, a doctor said.

Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson will decide in the next few days whether to pass the "Save Adolescents from Experimentation Act" into effect - a law that would ban doctors from providing gender-affirming care to transgender minors.

This bill would specifically prohibit transgender youth under 18 from accessing puberty blockers, hormone replacement therapy, and gender-affirming surgeries.

Medical professionals and advocates alike have called the bill dangerous and warn the law could be devastating to trans youth.

"You are literally denying access to medical care that's lifesaving, and, even more, you're actually making it a felony for these kids to seek out the care to live their lives in the most authentic and real way," Dr. Alann Weissman-Ward, Medical Director for Plume, told Insider.

Here are the gender-affirming procedures banned under HB 1570 and how they help trans youth.

Puberty blockers

Puberty blockers, or hormone blockers, are a type of medication commonly prescribed to trans youth to delay the onset of puberty.

Trans adolescents who begin to experience the early signs of puberty often start to feel gender dysphoria, or intense distress about the misalignment between their body and their gender identity, more acutely.

Puberty can make gender dysphoria more severe and often is traumatic for trans youth, as they may experience unwanted bodily changes, like hair growth, a deeper voice, or breast development.

Puberty blockers essentially pause puberty temporarily so trans teens, their doctors, and their parents can decide the next best course of action when they are older. Doctors usually prescribe them to trans youth around the ages of 12, 13, or 14.

They have no long-term side effects and are completely reversible if a teen decides they no longer want to be on them.

Hormone replacement therapy (HRT)

Hormone replacement therapy (HRT) is a common step trans youth in their late teens and adults take to aid their gender dysphoria.

HRT refers to a few different hormone therapies including testosterone and estrogen. Typically in injectable, gel, or pill form, HRT is prescribed to change someone's body to better match their gender identity.

Testosterone, typically prescribed to people assigned female at birth, can lead to a deeper voice, body hair growth, and fat redistribution for a more "masculine" frame. Estrogen, typically prescribed to people assigned female at birth, can lead to fat distribution and breast growth.

Doctors usually don't prescribe HRT until a trans teen turns 16 or older. Unlike hormone blockers, they can have permanent side effects like voice change and hair growth.

Gender-affirming surgeries

Gender-affirming surgeries can refer to a number of procedures.

Sexual reassignment surgery, more correctly referred to as "bottom" surgery, is an umbrella term used to refer to genital changing surgeries like vaginoplasty and phalloplasty.

Other gender-affirming surgeries can include top surgery, breast implants, and facial surgeries to make a face more traditionally masculine or feminine.

It is important to understand that, like many surgeries, doctors wait to perform gender-affirming surgeries on trans people until they are 18 or older to give their bodies enough time to develop.