Washington, Apr 21 (EFE).- Legislators from the state of Minnesota, in the United States, approved this Friday to ban “conversion therapies” that seek to change the sexual orientation of homosexual people, while agreeing to protect access to abortion and the rights of trans people.
The measures must now be ratified by the governor, Democrat Tim Walz.
The state Senate, with a progressive majority, approved the three measures, aimed at turning Minnesota into a “refuge” for the LGBT community, after several states in the region, such as North Dakota or Iowa, have prohibited access to treatments gender change for minors.
One of them, the one that refers to gender affirmation treatments -which is what they are called in the United States- seeks to prevent laws that are approved in other states to restrict them from interfering with their administration in Minnesota, reports The media. Hill.
Another measure approved today seeks to protect access to abortion by making patient records confidential, and limiting the ability of other states that have banned the practice to request extraditions.
The governor of Minnesota already approved a similar executive order last June, after the US Supreme Court eliminated the constitutional protection of abortion in force in the country since the 1970s.
Finally, the rule to ban conversion therapy specifically focuses on minors and vulnerable adults, which adds Minnesota to the list of 20 US states that have banned this practice, in addition to the nation’s capital, Washington, DC.
Democrats hold majorities in both state chambers and the gubernatorial job, something the state hasn’t seen in nearly a decade, after the November midterm elections in which Republicans suffered several losses.
