Gov. Eric Holcomb (R-IN) signed a bill that bans gender transition surgery for all minors on Wednesday, which will start being enforced this summer.
Indiana joins the ranks of 12 other states that have restricted or banned the use of medication to help transgender youth transition. The new bill will go into effect July 1, and transgender minors have until the end of 2023 to stop using the medication.
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Opponents of the legislation claimed the types of care the bill bans, including hormone therapy and puberty blockers, are vital and possibly life-saving for transgender children, according to the Associated Press. Some medical professionals have said the effects of the procedures are reversible and safe.
Supporters of the bill disagreed and claimed the procedures and medication were irreversible and that decisions about the procedures and medication could only be made by an adult patient, not parents or minors.
“Momentum continues to build for protecting children from dangerous, experimental sex-change procedures,” Terry Schilling, the president of American Principles Project, said in a statement shared with the Washington Examiner. “It’s unfortunate, of course, that such measures are even necessary. While children with gender dysphoria deserve true care and compassion, the transgender industry has instead tossed aside the Hippocratic oath in favor of pushing these kids into becoming permanent medical patients. However, no amount of sterilizing drugs or mutilating surgeries will ever fulfill the promise of allowing them to become the opposite sex. This is horrific medical malpractice, and it ought to be penalized as such.”
Republican lawmakers have also banned gender-transition surgeries for minors in the state, but hospital representatives in Indiana said doctors do not perform genital surgeries for minors.
The 12 other states that have enacted laws that restrict or ban gender-affirming care are Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, Georgia, Idaho, Iowa, Kentucky, Mississippi, Tennessee, Utah, South Dakota, and West Virginia.
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Before Indiana, Idaho was the most recent state to pass the legislation, with Gov. Brad Little (R-ID) signing a bill that makes providing hormones, puberty blockers, or other gender-affirming care to people under 18 a felony. Little signed the legislation on Tuesday night.
“In signing this bill, I recognize our society plays a role in protecting minors from surgeries or treatments that can irreversibly damage their healthy bodies,” Little said. “However, as policymakers, we should take great caution whenever we consider allowing the government to interfere with loving parents and their decisions about what is best for their children.”
