NC House Republican bill would restrict gender-affirming treatment for minors
A group of Republicans in the state House filed a bill Wednesday that would prohibit medical professionals from providing hormones or conducting medical procedures that facilitate a “minor’s desire to present or appear in a manner that is inconsistent with the minor’s sex.”
The bill, if it were to win enough support to become law, would prohibit surgeries for such purposes for people under 18 that “sterilize,” such as vasectomies, which cuts sperm supply to semen, and hysterectomies, which remove the uterus and end periods and the possibility of pregnancy.
When it comes to minors seeking such treatment for restricted reasons, House Bill 43 also would prohibit:
▪ A mastectomy, a surgical operation to remove a breast
▪ Medications that “induce transient or permanent infertility” such as medication that delays or blocks puberty
▪ The supply of testosterone and other androgens to female patients as well as the supply of estrogen and other hormones to male patients. It also would forbid the removal of “any otherwise healthy or nondiseased body part or tissue.”
The bill says that any medical professional who engages in any of the prohibited practices would be subject to license revocation and “other appropriate discipline by the medical professional’s licensing or certifying board.” Medical professionals would also face a civil penalty of up to $1,000 per occurrence.
Primary bill sponsors are Republican House Reps. George Cleveland, Keith Kidwell, Bill Ward and Steve Tyson.
Ward told The News & Observer Wednesday that for the sponsors of the bill, “the consensus was that juveniles, those under the age of 18, should not have gender-affirming surgeries or hormone treatments that should be reserved for those that are adults to make that decision. And that’s really the basis of the bill,” he said.
Uncertain prospects for the bill
North Carolina is not alone in seeing this kind of legislation. At least 20 bills were proposed last year for this year’s legislative sessions that sought to limit or prohibit access to transgender medical care for youth, The Hill reported. On Saturday, Utah’s Republican governor signed legislation that prohibits transgender surgery for youth and disallows hormone treatments for minors, NPR reported.
The North Carolina bill would need to pass both the House and Senate, which are controlled by Republicans, and either be signed by Gov. Roy Cooper, a Democrat, or win supermajorities in both chambers to override his veto. Many bills, especially those that aren’t priorities of top leaders in the chamber, never advance.
In terms of his expectations of this bill passing both the House and the Senate, Ward said, “Well, there’s been been a lot of discussion, but we’ll just have to wait till, to see till it gets to the floor.”
“At this juncture, I can’t say yes or no,” he said.
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This story was originally published February 1, 2023 at 5:46 PM.
