Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds has signed a Health and Human Services appropriation bill into law that includes a ban on using Medicaid funds for sex reassignment surgery for transgender Iowans. The amendment from conservative Republicans banning transitional surgery was added to the bill in the last few days of the legislative session. Backers say the bill was a response to an Iowa Supreme Court decision that ruled last month that the state cannot deny two transgender women Medicaid coverage for such a surgery. LGBTQ advocacy group One Iowa quickly condemned Reynolds’ decision, saying she “could have line-item vetoed the cruel and outdated language that enshrines discrimination in Iowa law without disrupting HHS services, but chose not to.” The measure also would prohibit government money from paying for sex education programs by Planned Parenthood.Reynolds' office released a statement Friday afternoon, saying in part: "This narrow provision simply clarifies that Iowa's Civil Rights Act does not require taxpayer dollars to pay for sex reassignment and other similar surgeries. This returns us to what had been the state's position for years."

Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds has signed a Health and Human Services appropriation bill into law that includes a ban on using Medicaid funds for sex reassignment surgery for transgender Iowans.

The amendment from conservative Republicans banning transitional surgery was added to the bill in the last few days of the legislative session. Backers say the bill was a response to an Iowa Supreme Court decision that ruled last month that the state cannot deny two transgender women Medicaid coverage for such a surgery.


LGBTQ advocacy group One Iowa quickly condemned Reynolds’ decision, saying she “could have line-item vetoed the cruel and outdated language that enshrines discrimination in Iowa law without disrupting HHS services, but chose not to.”

The measure also would prohibit government money from paying for sex education programs by Planned Parenthood.

Reynolds' office released a statement Friday afternoon, saying in part: "This narrow provision simply clarifies that Iowa's Civil Rights Act does not require taxpayer dollars to pay for sex reassignment and other similar surgeries. This returns us to what had been the state's position for years."