South Carolina may soon become the 25th state to ban transgender-related child sterilization and mutilation following the state’s senate voting overwhelmingly in favor of legislation that protects minors from such procedures.
The South Carolina Senate voted 27-8 on Thursday to ban transgender-related medical procedures for minors, with all Republicans present and one Democrat voting in favor of the bill, according to a report by Associated Press.
The legislation would reportedly prohibit health care professionals from performing trans-related sterilization and mutilation surgeries, prescribing puberty blockers, and overseeing hormone treatments for patients under the age of 18.
Principals or vice principals, meanwhile, would be required to inform parents or guardians if their child asks to be called anything other than their legal name at school, as well as if the minor asks to be referred to by pronouns that do not match their biological sex.
The bill would also prevent people from using Medicaid (taxpayer money) to cover the costs of transgender-related medical procedures.
The South Carolina House passed the bill in January, The state’s Senate then made changes to the legislation, making it so that the House can either vote to adopt the new version or send it to a conference committee of three members from each chamber to resolve the differences.
“There are some things in the nature of creation — male and female is one of them — that gets beyond what you believe and I believe,” South Carolina State Senator Richard Cash (R-District 3) said on Thursday.
“It’s rooted in creation,” Sen. Cash added. “It’s rooted in the creator and those who opposed that are opposing in some sense the nature of creation itself.”
If the legislation arrives on South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster (R)’s desk and he signs it, then The Palmetto State would become the 25th state to ban sterilization and mutilation for minors.
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