On Thursday, South Carolina’s Republican-led legislature approved House Bill 4624 to protect children from permanently altering gender mutilation with a 28-8 vote in the Senate and a 67-26 vote in the House.
TO AMEND THE SOUTH CAROLINA CODE OF LAWS BY ADDING CHAPTER 42 TO TITLE 44 SO AS TO DEFINE GENDER, SEX, AND OTHER TERMS, TO PROHIBIT THE PROVISION OF GENDER TRANSITION PROCEDURES TO A PERSON UNDER EIGHTEEN YEARS OF AGE, TO PROVIDE EXCEPTIONS, TO PROHIBIT THE USE OF PUBLIC FUNDS FOR GENDER TRANSITION PROCEDURES, AND TO PROVIDE PENALTIES; AND BY ADDING SECTION 59-32-36 SO AS TO PROHIBIT PUBLIC SCHOOL STAFF AND OFFICIALS FROM WITHHOLDING KNOWLEDGE OF A MINOR’S PERCEPTION OF THEIR GENDER FROM THE MINOR’S PARENTS, AMONG OTHER THINGS.
The bill prohibits medical professionals from giving puberty-blocking drugs or cross-sex hormones to children who are under 18 years old. It also bans “genital or nongenital gender reassignment surgery” for minors.
The bill specifies, “A physician, mental health provider, or other health care professional shall not knowingly provide gender transition procedures to a person under eighteen years of age.”
Those who violate the bill risk losing their licenses.
The bill also strengthens parents’ rights and requires schools to immediately notify parents in writing if their child claims to identify as something other than his or her sex or asks to be addressed by transgender pronouns.
School employees are also prohibited under the bill from withholding information about children’s gender confusion from their parents.
Republican Gov. Henry McMaster has already signaled his support for the bill and his intention to sign it, and the Bill would effect immediately upon his signature.
A large body of evidence shows that puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones cause serious, even life-threatening, injuries, such as cardiovascular disease, cancer, stroke, infertility, bone density loss, emotional problems, and permanent damage to reproductive organs.
Transgender surgeries include irreversible procedures to remove sexual organs and construct synthetic genitalia and other features intended to imitate those of the opposite sex. Research shows that people who undergo so-called “sex change” surgeries have an exponentially higher rate of suicide.
Pediatrician and consultant Dr. Hilary Cass conducted a comprehensive and lengthy review of international research into gender medicine for children for NHS England, which concludes that a lack of research and evidence on transgender medical interventions, such as puberty blockers and body-altering surgeries, is failing children.
Cass’s prior findings led to the banning of puberty blockers from children outside of clinical research in the UK.
