Source: LifeSiteNews.com
South Carolina Republican Gov. Henry McMaster signed into law Tuesday a ban on surgically or chemically mutilating confused minors for the sake of “transitioning” them away from their true gender.
House Bill 4624, the Help Not Harm bill, prohibits medical professionals from subjecting anyone under 18 years old to puberty-blocking drugs, cross-sex hormones, or “genital or nongenital gender reassignment surgery,” as LifeSiteNews reported. Violators risk losing their licenses, including for “inflicting great bodily injury upon a child.” Victims have a three-year window in which they can sue violators for damages.
The law also requires any minor put on puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones prior to the bill taking effect be weaned off of them by January 31, 2025, as well as bans taxpayer dollars from “directly or indirectly” supporting “transitions” and Medicaid reimbursements for the practice.
The bill additionally covers parental rights in public education, requiring schools to immediately notify parents in writing if their child claims to identify as something other than his or her sex or asks to be addressed by transgender pronouns, and prohibits school employees from withholding information about children’s gender confusion from their parents or encouraging or coercing children to do so….