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# Arkansas passes bill allowing for LGBTQ+ healthcare discrimination
- URL: https://www.scenemag.co.uk/arkansas-passes-bill-allowing-for-lgbtq-healthcare-discrimination/
- Published: 2021-02-16T10:30:54.000Z
- Updated: 2021-02-16T12:29:11.000Z
- Description: Arkansas, has passed a bill which will allow healthcare professionals to turn away LGBTQ+ patients on the basis of ‘personal beliefs’.
- Author: Rachel Badham
- Tags: Health, News, Politics, Alabama, Arkansas, Human Rights Campaign, Human Rights Watch, LGBTQ, LGBTQ Healthcare, Transgender, US

![](https://www.scenemag.co.uk/content/images/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/lgbt-healthcare-1-1.jpg)

Lawmakers in **Arkansas, US** have passed a bill which will allow healthcare professionals to turn away LGBTQ+ patients on the basis of ‘personal beliefs’. The Medical Ethics and Diversity Act, otherwise known as [Senate Bill 289](https://trackbill.com/bill/arkansas-senate-bill-289-to-create-the-medical-ethics-and-diversity-act/2017534/?ref=scenemag.co.uk#/details=true), states that the medical professional in question *“is not required to participate in a healthcare service that violates their conscience”*, meaning LGBTQ+ people could be refused healthcare without the practitioner facing any consequences. The bill was passed in a 27-6 vote.

![](https://www.scenemag.co.uk/content/images/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/lgbt-healthcare-equality-1.jpg)

Many LGBTQ+ activists have expressed concern over the new regulations, to which Republican senator **Kim Hammer**, who sponsored Bill 289, responded: “This bill is about elective things, things you can take time to find a provider who’s willing to offer the service rather than force a provider who doesn’t believe in doing it.” The **Human Rights Campaign’s** Arkansas state manager, **Eric Reece**, told [*LGBTQ Nation*](https://www.lgbtqnation.com/2021/02/arkansas-senate-passes-bill-allow-pharmacists-nursing-home-staff-turn-away-lgbtq-patients/?ref=scenemag.co.uk), that the bill *“is a blatantly discriminatory attempt to strip LGBTQ+ people of basic rights,”* adding: *“Health care should be available to all who need it, not withheld by providers because of hate and fear.”*

![](https://www.scenemag.co.uk/content/images/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/trans-us-rights.jpg)

Arkansas is now one of a handful of states which has either proposed or legally implemented laws which limit LGBTQ+ access to healthcare; the majority target trans youth. [**Alabama**](https://www.scenemag.co.uk/alabama-introduces-bill-against-trans-healthcare/) is the most recent state to introduce a bill which would prohibit doctors from providing gender-affirming healthcare to trans people under the age of 21\. The **Human Rights Watch** spoke out against the rising number of anti-trans bills in the US, saying in a statement that gender-affirming healthcare is essential for the wellbeing of trans youth: *“Such treatment can alleviate gender dysphoria and postpone puberty to give children time to explore their gender identity…For kids who need them, foreclosing these options is a violation of their bodily autonomy and their right to health.”*