ATLANTA — Democrat Sen. Josh McLaurin described the quiet, near-empty Senate floor March 21 as his Republican colleagues were out in the gallery grabbing coffee and socializing.

He said the feeling is customary when a decision has already been determined before a vote on the floor.

”I know the feeling of getting up to get orange juice or a milk or a soda because you know a long floor debate is coming because it’s not going to change the result because either their caucus positions or we’re tired of listening to each other,” McLaurin said before the Senate voted to ban gender-affirming surgery and hormone replacement therapy for transgender youth.

”But I think today it is a particularly salient feeling to be on the floor with empty seats because this result is already baked,” he said. “And the reason is it’s a metaphor for silence, the silence that trans kids hear when they say ‘No, this issue is not going away.’”

After Democrats’ final pleas to vote against Senate Bill 140, the Senate voted 31-21 to approve the House substitute of the bill, which now heads to Gov. Brian Kemp for final approval.

The bill prohibits sex reassignment surgeries or other surgical procedures and hormone replacement therapies performed on anyone younger than age 18 to alter primary or secondary sexual characteristics.

The substitute version — approved 95-75 in a House vote last week — removed the Senate’s original language that would have exempted physicians who violate the law from civil or criminal liability if damages, injuries or loss to any person occurs from their actions.

Opponents of the bill have voiced concerns about the impact it could have on the mental health of transgender children, citing studies that indicate transgender youth have a higher rate of suicide than any demographic of children.

“The cases are going up because we are recognizing them, we are hearing them, we’re talking to them and they know that we see them,” Democrat Rep. Shelly Hutchison, a mental health professional, said March 16. “They know that they can get help from us. and they feel comfortable — slowly but surely — coming to us when they’re thinking of harming themselves. This is a win for the mental health committee.”

But Republican lawmakers and proponents of the bill say that the decision to undergo gender-affirming procedures and medications should be reserved for adults who they say are better suited to make such life-changing decisions.

“As legislators, we’re charged with protecting the vulnerable population in the state,” Rep. Josh Bonner, House sponsor of the bill, said. “Senate Bill 140 does just that by establishing guardrails to ensure that children struggling with identity issues are not rushing into decisions that would alter their bodies forever.”

States that have passed similar laws have lawsuits pending in courts.

A judge in a lawsuit against Alabama has temporarily blocked its law from taking effect pending trial; he preliminarily opined that Alabama’s law is likely unconstitutional, stating “parents have a fundamental right to direct the medical care of their children subject to accepted medical standards, and discrimination based on gender-nonconformity equates to sex discrimination.”

Representatives from Georgia Equality — an LGBTQ equality advocacy group — headed to Kemp’s office following the Senate vote to urge that he veto SB 140.

”Parents, working in collaboration with their medical teams and adhering to standards of care, should be able to make decisions regarding their child’s healthcare,” Jeff Graham, executive director of Georgia Equality said. “…By targeting medical professionals for doing their jobs, SB 140 threatens an already serious shortage of health care workers.”