Republican-penned legislation in Pennsylvania to prohibit coverage for gender or sex reassignment surgery and services under taxpayer-paid insurance programs is on ice after lawmakers realized their own health insurance covers it.
The bill’s sponsor, Rep. Jesse Topper, said Wednesday he decided to pull the bill from the House’s debate calendar a day earlier so he could find out more about the coverage.
The fact that House members have coverage through their own insurance plan emerged during a closed-door Republican discussion just before the bill was to go to a floor debate
A similar provision passed the Republican-controlled Senate in October over the protests of Democrats.
Republicans say Pennsylvania can’t legally extend the coverage.
The House bill would prohibit coverage of doctor and hospital services, prescription drugs and counseling.
Transgender Support 