Sen. Löki Tobin (D-Anchorage): on Alaska State Medical Board's anti-trans & anti-abortion resolutions

Sen. Löki Tobin (D-Anchorage) discusses the resolutions up for a vote today, August 22, 2025, by the Alaska State Medical Board.  The first, listed on the agenda as "Board Statement/New Regulation Project: Late Term Abortion," is a statement drafted by board member and Republican candidate for governor Dr. Matt Heilala that would seek to limit access to abortions later in pregnancy. The second makes up the bulk of Sen. Tobin’s and my discussion today. It is also a statement drafted by board member Heilala declaring practitioners who prescribe gender affirming care in minors as “grossly negligent and therefore subject to disciplinary sanctions.” 

Gender-affirming care for adolescents, when indicated and provided in partnership with families, is evidence-based medicine. It is recognized by every major medical association—including the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Medical Association, the American Psychiatric Association, and the Endocrine Society—as the standard of care.  There are currently less than 100 youth in Alaska prescribed hormonal treatment as part of gender affirming care. There are no gender affirming surgical procedures being performed on minors in Alaska. 

Here are links to the Transgender series on the podcast from 2024:

1. Wildlife biologist Aaron Poe discusses being a father to a trans daughter in Anchorage

2.  Retired Army 1st Sergeant Jessica Kalarchik on being trans

3.  A 15-year-old trans boy and his mom

4.  David Leslie, an Inupiaq Sipiniq (Two-Spirit)

5.  Becca Bernard, a lawyer, minister, and mom to a trans girl

6.  Dr. Joshua Safer, author of the Endocrine Society Guidelines for the medical care of transgender patients

7. Dr. Marci Bowers, president of the World Professional Association of Transgender Health (WPATH)

8.  Rose O'Hara-Jolley, AK state director for Planned Parenthood Alliance Advocates

To learn more about Sen. Löki Tobin, listen to her first appearance on the podcast.

To learn more about today's resolutions, read Iris Samuel's ADN article.

Alaska Provider Sign-On Letter: Defending Evidence-Based Care

Open Letter from Alaska Health Professionals to the Alaska State Medical Board Re: Proposed resolution labeling gender-affirming care for minors as “unprofessional conduct” 

To the Alaska State Medical Board, 

We, the undersigned Alaska health professionals, write to strongly oppose the Board’s proposal to classify gender-affirming care for minors as “unprofessional conduct.” Earlier this year, the legislature declined to act on similar recommendations from the Board—rejecting interference in standards of care as inappropriate. By now advancing a resolution, the Board is disregarding that decision and overstepping its proper role. Even more concerning, in the same discussion the Board raised abortion as another area for punitive action, signaling an alarming trend of politicizing medicine across multiple domains. Gender-affirming care for adoles