Current:Home > ScamsSouth Carolina governor signs into law ban on gender-affirming care for transgender minors -Secure Growth Academy
South Carolina governor signs into law ban on gender-affirming care for transgender minors
View
Date:2025-04-17 01:07:26
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster on Tuesday signed into law a ban on gender-affirming care for transgender minors.
When the ink dried, South Carolina became the 25th state to restrict or ban such care for minors. The governor announced the signing on social media and said he would hold a ceremonial bill signing next week.
The law bars health professionals from performing gender-transition surgeries, prescribing puberty blockers and overseeing hormone treatments for patients under 18.
School principals or vice principals would have to notify parents or guardians if a child wanted to use a name other than their legal one, or a nickname or pronouns that did not match their sex assigned at birth.
The bill was changed in the Senate to allow mental health counselors to talk about banned treatments — and even suggest a place where they are legal. Doctors can also prescribe puberty blockers for some conditions for which they are prescribed such as when a child begins what is called precocious puberty — as young as age 4.
Groups including the Campaign for Southern Equality noted that the law takes effect immediately. The group is gathering resources to help families find any help they might need outside of South Carolina and most of the Southeast, which have similar bans.
“Healthcare is a human right – and it breaks my heart to see lawmakers rip away life-affirming and often life-saving medical care from transgender youth in South Carolina. No one should be forced to leave their home state to access the care that they need and deserve,” Uplift Outreach Center Executive Director Raymond Velazquez said in a statement after lawmakers passed the ban.
Earlier this year, McMaster said he supported the proposal to “keep our young people safe and healthy.”
“If they want to make those decisions later when they’re adults, then that’s a different story, but we must protect our young people from irreversible decisions,” the governor said.
As the bill advanced in the General Assembly, doctors and parents testified before House and Senate committees that people younger than 18 do not receive gender-transition surgeries in South Carolina and that hormone treatments begin only after extensive consultation with health professionals.
They said the treatments can be lifesaving, allowing young transgender people to live more fulfilling lives. Research has shown that transgender youth and adults are prone to stress, depression and suicidal behavior when forced to live as the sex they were assigned at birth.
Supporters of the bill have cited their own unpublished evidence that puberty blockers increase self-harm and can be irreversible.
Groups that help transgender people promised to keep working even with the new law.
“To all of the young people in South Carolina and their parents who are reading this news and feeling fear for the future, please know: No law can change the fact that you are worthy of dignity, equality, joy, and respect,” said Cristina Picozzi, executive director of the Harriet Hancock Center, an LBTQ advocacy nonprofit.
veryGood! (91998)
Related
- Krispy Kreme offers a free dozen Grinch green doughnuts: When to get the deal
- Kansas City Chiefs superfan ChiefsAholic sent to prison for string of bank robberies
- Travis Kelce Shares How His Family Is Navigating Fame Amid Taylor Swift Romance
- An Amish woman dies 18 years after being severely injured in a deadly schoolhouse shooting
- Gen. Mark Milley's security detail and security clearance revoked, Pentagon says
- Chelsea Lazkani's Husband Jeff Was Allegedly Caught Making Out With Another Woman Before Divorce
- Harvey Weinstein UK indecent assault case dropped over chance of conviction
- Texas would need about $81.5 billion a year to end property taxes, officials say
- Toyota to invest $922 million to build a new paint facility at its Kentucky complex
- Kansas City Chiefs superfan ChiefsAholic sent to prison for string of bank robberies
Ranking
- IRS recovers $4.7 billion in back taxes and braces for cuts with Trump and GOP in power
- Surfer Caroline Marks took off six months from pro tour. Now she's better than ever.
- Harvey Weinstein UK indecent assault case dropped over chance of conviction
- FBI received tips about online threats involving suspected Georgia shooter | The Excerpt
- B.A. Parker is learning the banjo
- Gary Oldman talks 'Slow Horses' Season 4 and how he chooses roles 'by just saying no'
- Red Lobster says it will soon exit bankruptcy protection after judge approves seafood chain’s sale
- Ticketmaster’s pricing for Oasis tickets is under investigation in the UK
Recommendation
Intel's stock did something it hasn't done since 2022
Ryan Seacrest vows to keep 'Wheel of Fortune' spinning as new host with Vanna White
'I cried like a baby': Georgia town mourns after 4 killed in school shooting
'Joker 2' is 'startlingly dull' and Lady Gaga is 'drastically underused,' critics say
Former longtime South Carolina congressman John Spratt dies at 82
'Who TF Did I Marry?' TV show in the works based on viral TikTok series
Video game performers reach agreement with 80 video games on AI terms
Two 27-year-olds killed when small plane crashes in Georgia