by Staff Reporter | Mar 1, 2026 | News
By Staff Reporter |
The Arizona House has passed a bill banning gender transitions for minors.
HB 2085 not only bans gender transition procedures to minors, it bans referrals and distribution of public funding to gender transition procedures. The bill defined procedures to include puberty blockers and hormone replacement drugs.
The legislation did include exemptions for individuals who were born with sex development disorders; who were endangered due to a physical disorder, physical injury, or physical illness; or who sustained an infection, injury, disease, or disorder caused or exacerbated by a gender transition procedure.
It is likely this bill is dead on arrival should it pass the Senate and hit the governor’s desk. Gov. Katie Hobbs supports gender transition procedures for minors, and her husband, Patrick Goodman, assisted children with gender transitions as a Phoenix Children’s Hospital Gender Support Program counselor.
The partisan divide was clear during House floor arguments for and against the bill.
Democrats argued HB 2085 violates parental and medical freedom.
Rep. Nancy Gutierrez (D-LD18), assistant minority leader, claimed parents had the right to decide for their children to transition their children.
Rep. Betty Villegas (D-LD20) argued puberty blockers and hormone therapies should be acceptable for gender transitions since they’re used to treat other ailments and defects.
Rep. Janeen Connolly (D-LD8) said gender transitions were a personal decision that should be beyond the scope of lawmakers. Connolly shared that one of her grandchildren, now 17 and identifying as “they/them,” had transitioned genders at 12 years old.
Rep. Stephanie Simacek (D-LD2) argued these decisions to transition genders weren’t made in haste since minors relied on parental consent to make the decision.
Across the aisle, Republicans argued the gender transitions of minors amounted to child abuse.
Rep. Lisa Fink (R-LD27), the bill sponsor, argued that allowing the puberty process to occur uninhibited was the prevailing treatment for gender dysphoria. Fink read off the myriad adverse health effects of puberty blockers and hormone replacement medications when applied to healthy children seeking gender transitions.
Rep. Rachel Keshel (R-LD17) accused those in support of gender transitions for minors of being inconsistent in their logic.
“It is my opinion that a parent that allows a child to permanently alter their body and potentially take away their ability to be parent one day, that is child abuse,” said Keshel.
Rep. Pamela Carter (R-LD4) countered that gender transitions don’t qualify as valid healthcare, and therefore not within the acceptable bounds of health decisions parents may make on behalf of their children.
“The physicians even now are stopping some of these procedures because they see the results of what happens to a minor when they realize what has happened: they cannot have children, or they are marred physically, emotionally for life,” said Carter. “Parents should be in charge of their children’s health, but to me this is not healthcare.”
Rep. Alexander Kolodin (R-LD3) questioned how Democrats could support irreversible procedures for minors given the universal agreement on age limits for other activities.
“Point of fact, there are many things our society does not allow minors to do: we don’t allow minors, at least up to a certain age, to drive. We don’t allow them to vote. We don’t allow them to drink. We don’t allow them to smoke,” said Kolodin. “We don’t even allow them to get tattoos because we’re worried that one day they will regret that decision. How much more so then should we not allow minors to engage in elective surgery that permanently disfigures them?”
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by Matthew Holloway | Nov 5, 2025 | News
By Matthew Holloway |
Arizona’s Joint Legislative Ad Hoc Committee on Family Court Orders has released a report detailing family court flaws from over 40 hours of testimony and expert review.
The committee’s recommendations include reforms to enhance accountability, transparency, and consistency.
The bipartisan committee, co-chaired by Sen. Mark Finchem (R-LD1) and Rep. Rachel Keshel (R-LD17), includes Sens. Carine Werner (R-LD4) and Theresa Hatathlie (D-LD6), and Reps. Lisa Fink (R-LD27) and Betty Villegas (D-LD20) as members. It examined family court practices related to court-ordered behavioral interventions, reunification programs, guardian ad litem appointments, behavioral-health evaluations, and the prioritization of child safety in custody decisions, according to a Tuesday press release.
The committee gathered input from more than 6,000 combined in-person attendees and online viewers across hearings. Recurring themes from the testimony included:
- Inadequate oversight of court-ordered evaluators and treatment providers.
- Significant financial burdens from reunification programs and mandated services, often exceeding tens of thousands of dollars.
- Inconsistent application of standards for guardian ad litem and representation of the minor’s voice.
- Lack of transparent data, training requirements, and accountability mechanisms in systems intersecting with family court proceedings.
- Absence of a standard of practice for psychologists.
- Calls to set limits on quasi-judicial immunity.
“The testimony we heard made one thing exceptionally clear: child safety must be the top priority in every family court proceeding,” Finchem said. “Right now, inconsistent oversight, extensive court-ordered programs, and fragmented accountability structures are placing families in impossible positions and, in some cases, putting children at risk. Arizona can and must do better. These findings will guide meaningful legislative solutions to protect children and ensure due process for every family.”
“When the system prioritizes process over people, children get lost in the middle,” Keshel said. “The purpose of this work is to ensure that every decision made in family court begins with one question: is this in the best interest and safety of the child?”
“We heard deeply personal and painful testimony from families whose lives were upended by inconsistent court practices,” Werner said. “Their courage in speaking out will help drive needed reform to protect future children and parents.”
“Families should not be forced into financial ruin simply to maintain parental rights or to keep their children safe,” Fink said. “We need transparency, cost controls, and oversight to prevent abuse and restore trust in these proceedings.”
“Every family’s story is different, and our state must recognize cultural, community, and trauma-informed factors when determining child safety,” Hatathlie said. “Reform cannot be one-size-fits-all. It must be grounded in the realities Arizona families face.”
The report synthesizes testimony, transcripts, agency input, and policy review to offer legislative options for improving the family court structure. Proposed reform areas include:
- Strengthening oversight and licensure requirements for court-appointed evaluators and therapeutic providers.
- Establishing statewide standards for guardian ad litem appointments and child-voice representation.
- Creating clear evidentiary guardrails and accountability measures.
- Increasing transparency, data reporting, and specialty training requirements.
- Reducing unnecessary financial burdens associated with mandated programs.
The committee concluded its report with a chilling account read aloud by Representative Keshel, which detailed how two children aged 6 and 7 were tragically murdered by their own father after “repeated warnings to the court were ignored,” after the court granted 50/50 custody “without meaningful safeguards,” despite the court having “documented abuse, a psychiatric hospitalization, and concerning evaluations.” The father tragically murdered his children before ending his own life.
The committee wrote, “This tragedy underscores the systemic failures identified throughout committee hearings: inadequate oversight of professionals, fragmented accountability, lack of child-centered protocols, and judicial immunity that shields negligence from consequence.”
They added that the victim’s story “is not an isolated incident, but a symbol of why thousands of Arizonans tuned into these hearings and why reform is urgently needed. The committee concludes: Arizona’s family court system must change—placing child safety above all else, ensuring judicial and professional accountability, and preventing future families from experiencing preventable loss.”
These recommendations will inform legislation for the 2026 legislative session.
Matthew Holloway is a senior reporter for AZ Free News. Follow him on X for his latest stories, or email tips to Matthew@azfreenews.com.
by Corinne Murdock | Jul 13, 2023 | News
By Corinne Murdock |
The Pima County Democrats may have violated open meeting law by neglecting to issue public notice of their meeting and requiring secrecy when selecting potential replacements for former State Rep. Andrés Cano. State law nullifies any actions taken during a meeting found to have violated open meeting law.
The public must receive a 24-hour notice of the meeting details. However, as Tucson Sentinel reported, Pima County Democratic Party leadership initially refused to provide access to the online meeting link.
Leslie Stalc, Legislative District 20 chair, reportedly told the outlet that she “sent out notices to anyone who was concerned” when asked if she issued public notice of the meeting. During the meeting, Pima County Democratic Chairman Eric Robbins reportedly prohibited public participants from recording the meeting or discussing anything that took place.
“No party but the party host may create an audio or video recording of these proceedings,” said Robbins. “No matters discussed here may be disseminated to the public for any purpose not consistent with the goals of the Pima County Democratic Party.”
Later on in the meeting, Robbins reportedly admitted that they hadn’t been as transparent about the meeting as they should have. He denied any malicious intent, predicting that reporters might pick up on the potential open meeting law violation.
“We are trying to accommodate this and be as open and transparent as possible. Again, if people need to level criticism on that point, I understand it,” said Robbins. “It’s certainly news if you have to make it news. But realize we’re not trying to do anything nefarious here.”
The leadership also reportedly opted to not disclose the vote tallies during the meeting, but pledged to do so at a later point.
After the meeting, counsel for the Arizona Democratic Party (ADP) declared that leadership met open meeting law requirements by putting a calendar event on their website. The event listing didn’t include information about how the public could attend.
The Pima County Democratic Party calendar only listed the Tanque Verde Valley Democratic Club Monthly Meeting. Legislative District 20 meetings occur on the fourth Monday of each month.
The county party didn’t post about the meeting on any of their social media profiles.
Fellow LD20 lawmakers, State Rep. Alma Hernandez and State Sen. Sally Ann Gonzales, requested a do-over of the meeting in a joint letter to the ADP and the Pima County Board of Supervisors (BOS).
Supervisor Matt Heinz told Tucson Sentinel that it didn’t matter if the public was notified. Even if the meeting did violate open meeting law, Heinz said he would propose that his colleagues consider the three candidates anyway.
“The public notice thing doesn’t make a difference for the process at least with this,” said Heinz.
Cano resigned formally on Independence Day, about a month after announcing his intent to do so. The former lawmaker stepped down to obtain a master’s degree in Public Administration from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government.
Pima County Democrats voted last Saturday for three candidates to replace Cano: Elma Alvarez, Lourdes Escalante, and Betty Villegas.
Alvarez is a Tucson Unified School District teacher. Escalante is the executive director and former co-director of programming of Alianza Indigena Sin Fronteras, an activist group across southern border states and Mexico.
Villegas is the development director for the South Tucson Housing Authority, with a brief former stint as a supervisor for Pima County and a longtime housing program manager for the county.
Cano issued support for candidates Villegas and Alvarez.
The unselected candidates were Michael Crawford, Wesley Crew, Andrew Curley, Sami Hamed, and Akanni Oyegbola.
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
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