Editor’s note: This article discusses human reproductive anatomy.
If you have a penis and testicles, you may have struggled with a bigoted gynecologist who wouldn’t give you a Pap smear to screen you for cancer of the cervix that you don’t have. The doctor may have deflected, blaming your cruel health insurance company for refusing to cover the cost of the test. If this has happened to you, don’t worry: The California legislature has your back.
Tuesday in Sacramento, the Assembly Health Committee will take up AB 1876, a bill to forbid “gender discrimination” by health insurance companies. From the legislative introduction: “The bill would prohibit a health care service plan or health insurer from taking specified actions relating to providing access to health programs and activities, including, but not limited to, denying or limiting health care services to an individual based upon the individual’s sex assigned at birth, gender identity, or gender otherwise recorded.”
So if this bill passes, you can’t be denied any type of care in California because of the sex you were “assigned at birth” when an obstetrician viciously looked at your so-called genitals. Your declared gender identity will determine what tests and care you can get. If you don’t have a uterus or ovaries but still want to be tested for pregnancy, the health care industry won’t be allowed to be mean to you.