Gender affirming care had been challenged in the statehouses before - mostly efforts to block services for prisoners or for Medicaid payments.

GAC bans for minors were first floated in a couple of low-detail bills in NH in 2018 and one very detailed one in IL in 2019, but it wasn't until 2020, when a flotilla of boilerplate bills made their appearance across the country, largely under the label "The Vulnerable Child Protection Act"