(WBBM NEWSRADIO) — Now that Indiana has become the latest state to ban gender-affirming care for minors, a social service agency based in Indianapolis called GenderNexus said at least one family is already exploring options to move away.
"We have parents who are calling us and sobbing for 30 minutes because they have no idea what they're going to do to keep their kids safe," said Emma Vosicky, GenderNexus’ executive director.
She said teenagers who are currently on medications will have that medicine taken away from them by the end of the year.
"We have kids who have started [and] already are feeling better about themselves, so they know this is possible,” Vosicky said. “And now the state is going to take away what is for some kids life-saving care.
Vosicky said the state's action is "unconscionable in its cruelty."
“The state decided that it would shatter a number of lives, and now they’ve left us up to clean up all the pieces and try to put them back together,” she said.
GenderNexus has heard from parents who are now trying to decide whether they're going to leave, Vosicky said, and move to a state like Illinois, where gender-affirming care for teenagers is not banned.
“The husband of the couple has already reached out to his employer to say, ‘I need assurances from you that I can move out of state. I can stay employed with you, but I can't stay here because I cannot do this to my child,’” Vosicky said.
For some parents, Vosicky said, the alternative to leaving the state might be to “lose their children altogether and/or just watch them wither.”
Vosicky said she’s told parents to hope that the American Civil Liberties Union’s lawsuit to reverse the ban succeeds, which would allow gender-affirming care for teenagers to continue.
“I may not be somebody who usually prays, but this is one of those times I'm going to,” she said.
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