LINCOLN — Aiden Whalen, a high school senior from Omaha, who wanted policy makers to understand how impactful gender affirming care has been for him.
"I want you to look into the eyes of 13 year old me curled up in his bedroom corner with a stomach full of pills because he wanted death to take him from a state that did not, and does not want him. And I want you to tell him that the bill was called "Let Them Grow," said Whalen.
Whalen was one of dozens of testifiers who testified at a DHHS hearing on proposed rules restricting gender affirming care.
The temporary implementation of the "Let them Grow Act" banned gender transition surgeries for minors.
Now, DHHS is working the final draft of the rules that will dictate how and when puberty blockers, and hormone replacement treatments can be prescribed to minors.
Medications that several testifiers, some of whom were transgender children themselves, said were life saving.
"My top surgery, my testosterone saved my life. This life that has allowed me to be a leader, a listener, a giver, an activist and most of all a joyful child. I want you to look me in the eyes, deep into my soul and tell me that is not growth", Whalen.
Under the new proposed rules proposed by Nerbaska's Chief Medical Officer Timothy Tesmer access to those medications would be restricted until a patient has met the required therapy hours.
The patient will require 40 hours of gender identity focused therapy, those hours must not be in a gender affirming context, and there is also a mandatory 7 day waiting period between meeting these requirements and when treatments can be administered.
Several testifiers argued though that those hours make seeking treatment costly for many patients and create an extra burden for already overworked providers.
"At a time when providers are short staffed, more so than ever, it seems irresponsible and overly prescriptive for a government to mandate what seems to be arbitrary and uninformed information with the number of hours of therapy," said Tori Cassidy Clinical Director for Heartland Family Service.
Another issue many parents brought up, regulations that now require a doctor administer medication that was previously allowed to be administered at home.
"I have been administering these injections for two years without incident. Now these rules require me to take a day off of work to drive to Omaha and get these injections every time. That's not right, it doesn't make any medical sense, it's an arbitrary rule meant to make it harder for transgender people to live in Nebraska", said Wendy Smith, the parent of a transgender child.
Tesmer what not in attendance for Tuesday's hearing due to a previously scheduled surgery but officials at the hearing said he will review all testimony before finalizing the rules.
Any substantial changes to the rules would require another public hearing.
