Last week, New Hampshire Gov. Kelly Ayotte signed into law House Bill 377, which “prohibits health care providers from prescribing puberty blockers and hormone therapy for people under 18 when the medications are used by transgender youth as part of gender transition,” according other the Boston Globe.

Reports the Globe:

The new law includes an exception so young people who are already accessing these treatments can continue to do so after the ban goes into effect on Jan. 1, 2026. 

“Medical decisions made at a young age can carry lifelong consequences, and these bills represent a balanced, bipartisan effort to protect children,” said Ayotte in a statement. 

Votes for the bill in both the House and the Senate largely fell along party lines, with Republicans supporting the legislation and Democrats opposed to it.

Proponents have said the ban is an important way of protecting children from treatments they believe to be harmful and irreversible. But opponents say the new law discriminates against transgender youth, removing treatments they view as life saving, and interfering with doctors’ ability to make appropriate medical decisions with families.

“These laws are merciless, cruel, and painful for transgender young people, their families, and their doctors,” said Courtney Reed, policy advocate at the American Civil Liberties Union of New Hampshire, in a statement after the bills were signed into law. 

She said the ACLU will continue fighting “to ensure all people have the dignity and equality they deserve and the freedom to shape their own futures.”

Read the complete Boston Globe story here.

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