Legislators in North Carolina Deliver A Prohibition On Gender-Affirming Child Care To The Governor’s Desk

North Carolina

A measure that would outlaw certain gender-confirming care for kids has been sent to the governor’s desk by North Carolina’s Republican-controlled legislature. Following the state Senate’s approval a few days ago, the state House approved the bill on a Wednesday party-line vote. Gov. R. Cooper, a Democrat who has opposed legislation aimed at LGBTQ students outspokenly this year, will now decide whether to sign or veto the proposal.

Republicans in North Carolina have submitted at least twelve anti-LGBTQ legislation this session of the bill, according to the ACLU, and they have the power to overturn the governor’s veto. A prohibition on transgender sports persons from participating in girls’ sports teams was approved by the state assembly last week and is currently on the governor’s desk.

Medical Practitioners Prohibited From Performing Gender-Confirming Surgery In North Carolina

The law that was enacted on Wednesday forbids medical professionals in North Carolina from treating adolescents in a gender-affirming manner, even when parental approval is present. Although there are very few exceptions for certain conditions, House Bill 808 prohibits medical practitioners from performing gender transition surgeries, administering hormone therapies, and prescribing medicines that prevent puberty for patients under 18. The proposed law asks for the revocation of a doctor’s medical license if they violate the statute.

Gender-confirming care includes a variety of empirically supported procedures and strategies that are advantageous to nonbinary and transgender persons. Many mainstream medical societies consider the various care options, which vary depending on the recipient’s age and aspirations, to be the gold standard of treatment. Additionally, the law would let former patients a window of 25 years after they reach 18 to sue medical professionals and their jobs for alleged harms caused by gender-affirming therapy. Any youngster who begins therapy before 1st August and whose care is deemed “medically necessary” by a physician with the approval of their parents is exempt from the new limits.