An Arizona doctor running for Congress on a platform championing "universal healthcare" voted against a law to protect kids from transgender surgeries. 

Amish Shah, a former emergency room doctor, consistently voted against proposals aimed at shielding kids from the impacts of transgender ideology during his time as a lawmaker in the state house. Shah, who emphasizes his medical credentials on the campaign trail, has called for a single-payer, fully government-funded healthcare system. 

While in the state House, Shah voted against a 2022 bill banning doctors from performing transgender surgeries on kids. These surgeries included removing the breasts of girls who identify as boys and surgeries crafting fake genitals for gender-confused children. Despite opposition from Democrats, Governor Doug Ducey signed the measure into law in March 2022. 

Shah twice voted against bills to keep males out of female sports, including a 2022 measure that became law. Additionally, he did not support a proposal to ensure that males cannot use female bathrooms at schools. 

The scrutiny on Shah's pro-trans stance comes as Democrats across the country have struggled after Republicans successfully campaigned on the issue during the 2024 presidential election. Some Democrats have received verbal lashings from leftist constituents for moderating on the issue, and others have avoided the issue altogether. 

At the same time as Shah is on the ballot, Arizona voters will have the opportunity to approve a ballot measure that would strengthen current law to keep males off female sports teams and ensure privacy for females in locker rooms and restrooms. 

Shah's Republican opponent in the race is Jay Feely, a former kicker for the Arizona Cardinals whose platform includes keeping men out of women's sports. Both men are running to replace outgoing Republican Rep. David Schweikert, who mounted an unsuccessful run for governor. Schweikert won the district, which covers large swaths of Maricopa County, by four points in 2024, and Democrats are targeting it as one of the seats they would like to flip.

Shah's voting record on transgender issues has drawn criticism from Republicans. 

"Socialist Amish Shah showed off his far-Left beliefs as a state legislator," National Republican Congressional Committee spokesman Ben Petersen told The Daily Wire. "Socialist Shah proved he's too extreme for Arizona and voters will reject his radical, out of touch agenda."

During his time in the legislature, Shah introduced a proposal to ban so-called "conversion therapy" and to make gender identity and sexual preference protected classes. Conversion therapy bans broadly prohibit counselors from pushing gender-confused kids to feel comfortable in their bodies. 

Shortly after introducing the measure, Shah said that he hoped he could "continue to be a great advocate for our state, our district, and the LGBT community."

Shah's platform does not mention how he would vote on transgender issues, but it does highlight his support for abortion. It boasts of his 100% "pro-choice voting record" and calls for Congress to pass a law guaranteeing the right to end the life of an unborn child. 

The Arizona Democrat previously criticized America's health care system for being "based on the free market," saying "there's a lot of things that are wrong with that."

"No other industrialized country or first-world country offers health care through a free market because it's not really a system," he said in May 2019 at an event with the Phoenix Democratic Socialists of America and the Progressive Democrats of America. To "take the problem and fix it, we need universal, single-payer Medicare for All throughout this country," he added.

His campaign website describes him as a "proven champion for universal healthcare."