Two More States Ban Transgender Surgery On Minors

As LGBT activists push for increased access to often irreversible and dangerous medical procedures on children who identify as transgender, Republican lawmakers across the country are advocating for laws that would protect minors from making the same decisions that many have come to regret later in life.

Most recently, two more states — Georgia and Iowa — enacted bans aimed at prohibiting children from undergoing sex-reassignment surgery.

Eight Republican-led states already had similar bans on the books when these two laws went into effect and two others — Missouri and Kentucky — have advanced bills that are, as of this writing, still awaiting signatures from their respective governors.

For his part, Republican Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp signed a bill into law on Thursday that bans “certain surgical procedures for the treatment of gender dysphoria in minors from being performed in hospitals and other licensed healthcare facilities … so as to prohibit certain surgical procedures for the treatment of gender dysphoria in minors.”

Kimberly Fletcher, the founder of advocacy group Moms for America, issued a statement in support of the measure, writing: “We’re glad that policymakers across America are taking a careful look at what these harmful procedures can do to children.”

Specifically referencing the bill signed by Kemp, she added that it “will give Georgia children the legal protections they desperately need.”

Transgender activists and groups including the American Civil Liberties Union hope to be successful in overturning the law.

In Iowa, GOP Gov. Kim Reynolds signed into law Senate File 538, which precludes medical providers from performing or participating in any procedures “for the purpose of attempting to alter the appearance of, or affirm the minor’s perception of, the minor’s gender or sex, if that appearance or perception is inconsistent with the minor’s sex.”

That move also garnered praise from many on the right, including Alliance Defending Freedom Senior Counsel Matt Sharp.

“Denying the truth that we are either male or female hurts real people, especially vulnerable children,” he asserted in a statement. “By enacting this legislation, Iowa has taken critical steps to protect children from radical activists that peddle gender ideology and pressure children into life-altering, experimental procedures and drugs.”

Reynolds also authorized a related bill that bans transgender students from using school restrooms that do not correspond with their biological sex.

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR