On Tuesday, South Carolina Republican Gov. Henry McMaster signed a bill prohibiting health care providers from performing so-called “gender-affirming” care on minors. This encompasses puberty blockers, hormone treatments, and sex reassignment surgeries.
In addition, the law requires school principals, teachers and staff to tell parents when their children want to use a “chosen name” and “preferred pronouns.”
The law went into effect immediately, according to The New York Times. There were other attempts in recent years to pass this kind of legislation (via NYT):
South Carolina lawmakers tried to pass similar legislation in 2021 and 2022 but failed to get them through the State House of Representatives. In 2022, the clock ran out on a broader bill banning transition care for minors, but lawmakers put a clause in the state budget that banned a pediatric clinic at a public hospital from using state funds on transition care for people under 16. The clinic soon went further, ending hormonal treatments to anyone under 18.
This year, House Republicans made gender-transition treatment a priority. “When God created us, he created us male and female, that’s it,” said David Hiott, the House majority leader and a co-sponsor of the bill, at the start of the legislative session in January. “All these other folks that want to change that from birth, change that through their life, we need to stand up against that.”
On X, McMaster shared that he signed the bill into law.
“I signed the Help Not Harm bill into law, which protects our state’s children from irreversible gender transition procedures and bans public funds from being used for them,” he wrote. “I look forward to joining legislators and supporters at a ceremonial bill signing in the Upstate next week.”
I signed the Help Not Harm bill into law, which protects our state’s children from irreversible gender transition procedures and bans public funds from being used for them. I look forward to joining legislators and supporters at a ceremonial bill signing in the Upstate next week. pic.twitter.com/7RTDYGGGDU
— Gov. Henry McMaster (@henrymcmaster) May 21, 2024
Several other states, including many in the south, have laws on the books protecting children from this irreversible, experimental transgender care.