evidence: Transgender children, like all children, have the best chance to thrive when they are supported and can obtain the health care they need. Studies suggest that improved body satisfaction and self-esteem following the receipt of gender-affirming care is protective against poorer mental health and supports healthy relationships with parents and peers.2 Studies also demonstrate dramatic reductions in suicide attempts, as well as decreased rates of depression and anxiety.3 Other studies show that a majority of patients report improved mental health and function after receipt of gender-affirming care. Medically supervised care can also reduce rates of harmful self-prescribed hormones, use of construction-grade silicone injections, and other interventions that have potential to cause adverse events.4 It is imperative that transgender minors be given the opportunity to explore their gender identity under the safe and supportive care of a physician. Arkansas’s law and others like it would forestall that opportunity. This is a dangerous intrusion into the practice of medicine and we strongly urge the NGA and its member governors to oppose these troubling bills.