Two bills radically restricting medical care for Transgender people have been introduced in Oklahoma.

The first, SB 250, would bar any state-funded gender-affirming medical care for Trans people. The second, SB 129, would bar gender-affirming care for Trans people under the age of 26.

SB 250 provides that "no provider shall be eligible for reimbursement through Medicaid or any other federal or state program or any other funding from any political subdivision of this state... if that provider, or any affiliate of that provider, performs gender transition procedures."

Since almost all hospitals and clinics rely on government funding for a large part of their operating budgets, this bill can be read as a direct threat to medical providers: stop offering gender-affirming care or lose your funding.

Medicaid is a federal program, but it is administered by state governments, so the government of Oklahoma could — if this bill passes — reallocate the Medicaid money it gets from the federal government away from Trans-friendly providers.

If passed, SB 250 is likely to be challenged in court on the grounds that federal laws barring discrimination on the basis of gender identity supersede any state laws to the contrary. But even if such a challenge were to succeed, Oklahoma's medical providers might be faced with a choice between accepting federal money and losing state money, or vice versa.

The second anti-Trans bill, SB 129, would prohibit gender-affirming care for people under 26, forcing them to detransition.

SB 129 adds two paragraphs to existing state laws:

"A. A physician or other healthcare professional shall not provide gender transition procedures to any individual under twenty-six (26) years or age.

"B. A physician of other healthcare professional shall not refer any individual under twenty-six (26) years of age to any healthcare professional for gender transition procedures."

Paragraph A would bar any medical providers in Oklahoma from offering gender-affirming care of any kind. Paragraph B even forbids them from sending patients to out-of-state providers.

These are not the first anti-Trans bills introduced in the Oklahoma legislature. A previous bill threatened to defund hospitals that provided gender-affirming care for Trans youth. While the bill did not pass, hospitals discontinued care for patients under 18.

Another Oklahoma bill that did pass barred Trans youth from gender-appropriate restrooms and sports facilities.