COLUMBIA, S.C. — A South Carolina Democrat has filed a bill that would prohibit doctors from providing gender-affirming medical procedures or medication to transgender youth.
The bill, authored by Democratic state Rep. Cezar McKnight of Williamsburg was filed Tuesday and has bipartisan support and is part of a wave of similar bills being debated in states across the country.
Specifically, the legislation would ban medical professionals from performing procedures or providing medication that would change the appearance of a minor's gender or delay puberty. That ban would extend to drugs that could block puberty from happening as well as estrogen or testosterone, which are given to transgender individuals who are transitioning to their desired gender.
Currently, doctors can prescribe medication to temporarily suppress puberty in transgender youth. The medication suppresses hormones released during puberty that would typically cause characteristics associated with sex to develop. For example, in those born male, puberty blocking medication would decrease facial and body hair growth, stop voice deepening and limit genitalia growth, and in those born female, it would limit breast development and slow or stop menstruation, according to the Mayo Clinic.
Changes made by that medication are not permanent, according to the Mayo Clinic. If a child stops taking them, puberty will resume.
The legislation would also ban doctors from performing a number of medical procedures on youth for the purpose of affirming their gender identity.
Doctors could face felony charges and up to 20 years' imprisonment for violating the law. If convicted of a felony, a doctor could also lose their medical license.
"It is my hope that South Carolina can protect children by signing this bill into law," McKnight said in a statement. "The decision to transition from one gender to another is serious, and — like so many other serious decisions —should only be made by adults, not children."
An opponent of the bill called it "politically disgusting and hurtful to the transgender community."
"This legislation does not reflect the values and priorities of South Carolinians," said Chase Glenn, the executive director of the Alliance for Full Acceptance, an LGBTQ advocacy group based in Charleston. "Legislators' time would be better spent addressing the actual priorities of their constituents — like COVID-19 relief, strengthening the economy and bolstering our educational system. "
Glenn said youth that receive gender-affirming medical care see lower rates of depression, anxiety, substance abuse and suicide attempts.
And according to the Mayo Clinic, puberty-blocking medication can improve mental health and can eliminate the need for future surgeries in youth with gender dysphoria.
"Legislators have no business intruding on individual freedom and they need to leave personal decisions about health care to these youth, their parents and their medical care providers," Glenn said.
The bill does not stop at imposing bans on doctors.
Nurses, counselors, teachers, principals or other school administrative officials would also be banned from encouraging minors not to tell their parents that they are transgender or from withholding that information from parents themselves.
Glenn said that portion of the bill essentially would require those officials to "out" students to their parents.
"Legislators clearly do not understand the potentially dangerous position in which they are putting transgender youth," Glenn said. "By requiring school personnel to notify parents when a youth discloses their gender identity, they are opening the door for possible violence and harm if that parent is not understanding or supportive. This bill, if signed into law, could cause irreparable harm to our youth.
South Carolina is not the only state considering similar legislation.
The Alabama Senate voted last week to adopt a similar bill, making it a felony for medical providers to give transgender youth gender affirming medication or to perform surgeries that would do the same. A similar bill has passed an Alabama House committee, and it is likely that the Senate's bill will become law.
The South Dakota House passed their bill in February, though their penalties are much less steep. Under the South Dakota bill, doctors who provide gender affirming treatment would face a one-year jail sentence and a maximum fine of $2,000.
Nationally, the ACLU has vowed to fight these bills.
This bill isn't the first restriction on trans youth that is being considered by the state Legislature this session.
The House is also considering a bill that would ban transgender girls and women from participating in high school and middle school women's sports. The bill passed out of subcommittee last week and is expected to be heard in the full House Judiciary Committee.
That bill has been opposed by South Carolina Superintendent Molly Spearman, who said the issue is "not something we need to legislate in Columbia."
Fellow opponents of the bill, which include several LGBTQ advocacy organizations and dozens of medical professionals, argue that the bill will cause harm to transgender youth by potentially outing them and denying them access to activities that are beneficial to their development.
Supporters of the bill, part of a nationwide push to pass similar legislation, say the state needs it to protect athletic opportunities for cisgendered women, who may be at an athletic disadvantage to those born male. Cisgender means a person's gender identity matches the one they were assigned at birth.
