LINCOLN- Last week, a new tactic was introduced to the Nebraska Legislature. This week the body debated Senator Kauth's LB574, the bill that limits gender-affirming care. Ahead of this week's debate, a select amount of Nebraska Senators issued a minority committee statement that spoke out against the bill. The four-page rebuttal, written by Sens. Cavanaugh and Day, two members of the Health and Human Service Committee, acts similarly to a dissenting opinion in judicial proceedings.

Multiple sections of the jointly-written statement note that organizations like the Nebraska Medical Association and the American Medical Association have determined that gender-affirming care for minors, which LB574 would outlaw, is best practice. "These professionals and associations testified in opposition at the Committee Hearing on the bill to these findings," one section of the statement reads, "The Minority Committee Members object to the current form of this section as it does reflect mainstream medical or scientific consensus."

Minority statements have been discussed and considered in the past, but the action has never actually been used. Brandon Metzler, Clerk of the Legislature, said "We never see it done, but it's basically the ability to add your individual thoughts to a piece of legislation coming out of committee that you may either agree or disagree with the majority." The statement did not affect the final vote on the bill as it passed Thursday morning on a slim vote.

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