Wyoming Gov. Gordon signed HB 122 barring the state's rural health transformation funds from gender-affirming care
On March 6, 2026, Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon signed House Bill 122, the Wyoming Rural Health Transformation Program act (enrolled as HEA 21), which governs how the state spends roughly $205 million in federal Rural Health Transformation Program money. The law's Section 35-25-708(a) bars any of those funds from being spent on abortions or on "sex-trait modification procedures" as defined in 45 C.F.R. § 156.400 — categorically excluding gender-affirming care from a major public health funding stream.
Actors
On March 6, 2026, Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon signed House Bill 122, the Wyoming Rural Health Transformation Program act, enrolled as HEA 21, after the Legislature passed it during the 2026 budget session. The law establishes a program within the Wyoming Department of Health to govern how the state spends roughly $205 million in federal Rural Health Transformation Program funds, creating an advisory committee and a spending framework for the money.
Section 35-25-708(a) of the act provides that no expenditure of rural health transformation funds "shall be made for abortions or for specified sex-trait modification procedures, as defined in 45 C.F.R. § 156.400." The cross-referenced federal definition covers gender-affirming interventions, so the provision categorically bars the state from directing any of this public health funding toward gender-affirming care, placing that care alongside abortion as an excluded use.
By writing a blanket exclusion of gender-affirming care into an otherwise general $205 million rural-health funding program, the law singles out care tied to a protected characteristic for disadvantaged treatment. It was enacted as part of Wyoming's 2026 legislative session, in which lawmakers advanced several measures restricting transgender residents' access to public programs and services.
Why we recorded this
Equal treatment under law bars the state from structuring a public benefit so that a disfavored group's medical care is singled out for exclusion. Wyoming enacted a law directing roughly $205 million in rural health funds while writing in a categorical bar on spending any of it on gender-affirming care. By carving out care associated with a protected characteristic from an otherwise general health-funding program, the state disadvantages transgender residents and the providers who serve them. Singling out gender-affirming care for exclusion from public health funding is discriminatory state action against a marginalized community.
Sources
- House Bill 122 (2026) — Wyoming rural health transformation program (introduced text) — Wyoming Legislature primary accessed July 11, 2026
- 2026 HB0122 — Wyoming rural health transformation program (bill status page) — Wyoming Legislature primary accessed July 11, 2026
- New Wyoming laws: A state guard, pregnancy center protections and rural health funds — Wyoming Public Media secondary accessed July 11, 2026
- Bill that codifies how the state can use Rural Health Transformation Funds sails through House — Wyoming Public Media secondary accessed July 11, 2026
See also
- Wyoming enacted a 2026 budget footnote barring public funds, including Medicaid, from gender-affirming care
- Wyoming enacted SEA 8, requiring parental opt-in before instruction on sexual orientation or gender identity
- Wyoming enacted SF0077 barring state and local government from requiring employees to use colleagues' preferred pronouns
- Wyoming Gov. Gordon signed HB 72 requiring birth-sex use of public restrooms, prison sleeping quarters, and college facilities
- Wyoming Gov. Gordon signed SF0062 requiring K-12 students to use restrooms and facilities matching sex assigned at birth
Receive the daily digest by email
One email each morning with every entry filed the day before. Free. No tracking, no ads. Unsubscribe anytime.