The Human Rights Alliance condemns Oklahoma Senate Bill 904, recently signed into law, which prohibits the Oklahoma Health Care Authority from using Medicaid funds or public facilities to provide or reimburse medically necessary gender affirming care for both transgender youth and transgender adults.
This legislation represents yet another attempt by elected officials to insert politics into private medical decisions. While supporters of the bill frame it as a fiscal measure, the practical effect is the denial of healthcare to a specific population based solely on their gender identity.
Under SB 904, Oklahoma’s Medicaid program, SoonerCare, is prohibited from covering gender affirming medical care, including hormone therapy and surgical procedures. The law further prohibits the use of public hospitals, public clinics, and other state owned facilities for the provision of such care. State employees who knowingly violate the law may face criminal penalties.
The legislation contains exemptions for mental health counseling, treatment of intersex conditions, and care related to complications from previous procedures. While we welcome the recognition that intersex individuals deserve access to medically necessary healthcare, it is important to recognize the contradiction at the heart of this law. Oklahoma lawmakers have acknowledged that medical professionals are capable of providing individualized, evidence based care when it comes to intersex people while simultaneously denying that same professional judgment to transgender patients and their healthcare providers.
As an organization that advocates for LGBTQIA2S New Mexicans and our allies across the region, we reject the false narrative that gender affirming healthcare is somehow separate from legitimate medicine. Every major American medical organization, including the American Medical Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the Endocrine Society, and the American Psychological Association, recognizes gender affirming care as evidence based treatment for gender dysphoria.
This law will disproportionately harm low income transgender Oklahomans who rely on Medicaid for healthcare access. Wealthier individuals may still be able to travel out of state or pay privately for treatment. Those with limited financial means will face increased barriers to
care, worsening health outcomes, and heightened risks of depression, anxiety, and suicidality. The burden will fall hardest on those who already face economic hardship, discrimination, and inadequate access to healthcare.
The Human Rights Alliance is particularly troubled by the expansion of these restrictions to adults. For years, opponents of transgender equality have claimed their focus was solely on minors. SB 904 makes clear what many advocates have warned all along: these efforts are not limited to youth. They are part of a broader campaign to restrict or eliminate access to gender affirming healthcare for transgender people at every stage of life.
Healthcare decisions belong to patients, their families, and their medical providers. They do not belong to politicians seeking to score ideological points at the expense of vulnerable communities.
We are grateful that New Mexico continues to chart a different course. Our state has chosen to protect access to medically necessary healthcare, uphold the dignity of LGBTQIA2S people, and respect the expertise of healthcare professionals. In a time when many states are erecting barriers to care, New Mexico remains a beacon of inclusion, compassion, and evidence based policymaking.
The Human Rights Alliance stands in solidarity with transgender, nonbinary, and gender diverse Oklahomans affected by this law. We also recognize the many healthcare professionals, parents, advocates, and community leaders who continue to fight for a future in which every person can access the healthcare they need without political interference.
The fundamental question remains simple: Should politicians have the authority to overrule doctors and patients in determining appropriate medical care?
The Human Rights Alliance believes the answer is no.
Healthcare is a human right. Dignity is a human right. And no one should be denied medically necessary care because of who they are.
M. A. D’Arrigo
HRA Board President