South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem signs bill banning gender-transition treatments for minors

Reported by Washington Times:

South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem signed a bill Monday banning gender-transition drugs and surgeries for minors, making hers the seventh state to crack down on such treatments amid a surge in the number of children’s gender clinics.

Known as the Help Not Harm Act, House Bill 1080 forbids prescribing puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, sterilizations and surgical procedures “to alter the appearance of, or to validate a minor’s perception of, the minor’s sex, if that appearance or perception is inconsistent with the minor’s sex.”

The bill, which passed overwhelmingly in the Republican-controlled House and Senate, gives health-care professionals until Dec. 31 to wean off minors already undergoing treatments. The legislation takes effect July 1.

“South Dakota’s kids are our future,” said Ms. Noem, a Republican. “I am signing HB 1080 to protect our kids from harmful, permanent medical procedures. I will always stand up for the next generation of South Dakotans.”

Pushing back was the American Civil Liberties Union, which called it a “heartbreaking and tragic day for thousands of South Dakotans and their families.”

“This ban won’t stop South Dakotans from being trans, but it will deny them critical support that helps struggling transgender youth grow up to become thriving transgender adults,” said the ACLU. “But make no mistake – this fight is not over.”

@govkristinoem has signed HB 1080 – South Dakota’s Help Not Harm bill. South Dakota will finally protect minor children suffering from gender dysphoria from permanent body mutilation. https://t.co/cr5QxoPWGU pic.twitter.com/fFjugVzbm8

— Jon Hansen (@RepJonHansen) February 13, 2023

A half-dozen states have passed restrictions on performing gender-transition procedures on minors, most recently Utah, where Republican Gov. Spencer Cox signed a similar bill last month.

Such laws have been enjoined in Alabama and Arkansas pending federal court challenges.

Terry Schilling, president of the American Principles Project, hailed Ms. Noem and South Dakota legislators for “acting to protect children in their state from this medical malpractice.”

“The transgender industry’s assault on vulnerable children is appalling,” Mr. Schilling said. “Recent whistleblower testimony about the practices in at least one gender clinic have thrown open the curtain on so many abuses: Kids rushed into dangerous, life-changing procedures without fully comprehending the consequences. Parents misled or even outright cut out of the process. It is truly a horror show.”

He referred to Jamie Reed, a former caseworker at the Washington University Transgender Center in St. Louis, who accused the clinic last week of pushing hormones on children with little individualized screening and sometimes without parental consent.

Autumn Leva, Family Policy Alliance senior vice president of strategy, said that gender-transition drugs “do cause serious harm.”

“They often leave young people sterile, with a variety of irreversible maladies and physical changes, and the deep pain of regret,” Ms. Leva said. “All this can happen before a child is even old enough to buy cough syrup over the counter.”

Ms. Noem signed the legislation over the objections of transgender advocates who held protests Saturday in Sioux Falls, Vermillion, Brookings and Rapid City organized by the Transformation Project Advocacy Network.

“We will never stop fighting for the right of trans youth to get the love, support, and care that every young person deserves,” the ACLU said. “As much as Governor Noem wants to force these young people to live a lie, we know they are strong enough to live their truth, and we will always fight for communities and policies that protect their freedom to do so.”

Mr. Schilling predicted more such bills would pass this year amid rising concerns about gender dysphoria treatments for children. Gender clinics treating minors have exploded in the last 15 years from zero to more than 100.

Source:Washington Times