By Will Hall, Baptist Message executive editor BATON ROUGE, La. (LBM) – On June 1, 26 Louisiana lawmakers rallied on the Senate floor to resurrect HB 648, the “Stop Harming Our Kids Act,” by Rep. Gabe Firment, a deacon with First Baptist Church, Pollock. The bill protects underage children (who are not capable of giving informed consent) against irreversible chemical and surgical transgender procedures. The special legislative procedure was necessary after Gov. John Bel Edwards, according to NOLA.com, “whipped members of the [Senate] Health and Welfare Committee to vote against the bill [5-4] in the hours before the hearing," on May 24. BACKGROUND Before the May 24 interference by the governor, HB 648 had sailed through the legislative process on the House side with overwhelming support. After the special Senate action on June 1, HB 648 was recalled from the Senate Committee on Health and Welfare, essentially discharging them of responsibility for the bill, and then recommitted, or transferred, to the Senate Committee on Judiciary A for another hearing. On June 2, Judiciary A voted to favorably report HB 648, without objections from the four members who were present (three Democrats boycotted the vote), back to the … [Read more...]