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Arkansas legislature overrides Governor Asa Hutchinson's veto on transgender-treatment bill

The governor said the measure was created with good intentions but "a product of the cultural war in America."

Published: April 7, 2021 6:55am

Updated: April 7, 2021 7:58am

The Arkansas legislature has overridden Republican Gov. Asa Hutchinson's veto on a measure to ban so-called gender-affirmation procedures.

The Arkansas Senate on Tuesday voted 25-8, while the House voted 72-25, according to the Arkansas Democrat Gazette.

The procedures are for transgender 18 and younger. Hutchinson on Monday vetoed the measure amid an expected veto from the GOP-controlled legislature.

The governor said he vetoed the measure because it was a "vast government overreach" and that it would've created "new standards of legislative interference with physicians and parents as they deal with some of the most complex and sensitive matters involving young people," according to CNN.

He also said the measure was created with good intentions but "a product of the cultural war in America."

State Rep. Robin Lundstrum drafted the bill to ban certain surgeries and hormone treatments.

"Even medicine sometimes is wrong," she said. "We should never experiment on children. Ever."

Democratic House Minority Leader Tippi McCullough agreed  Hutchinson's veto, saying, "Put aside everything and to search your own heart and think about these parents and these children and their doctors.”

Hutchinson came under fire for his veto from conservatives and news pundits such as Fox News' Tucker Carlson.

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