In a staggering move to protect children, the Alabama Senate voted 23-4 to ban all hormone therapy, puberty-blockers and surgery for transgender individuals under the age of 19. Entitled the Vulnerable Child Compassion and Protection Act, any medical professional that treats transgender minors could face up to 10 years in prison or a 15,000 dollar fine.
“Children aren’t mature enough to make these decisions on surgeries and drugs. The whole point is to protect kids,” Senator Shay Shelnutt, sponsor of the bill, said.
The legislation would also require school staff for the child to disclose “a minor’s perception that his or her gender is inconsistent with his or her sex” to parents, preventing children from hiding their confusion regarding their gender from their parents.
As the first state to ban such practices, the bill could inspire more states to follow suit, since at least eight other states have already considered similar bills. As of this week, more than half of America’s states are discussing bills that would limit sports participation and medical resources for transgender youth.
Naturally, the bill didn’t pass with resistance and caused major outcry amongst transgender rights organizations, with critics arguing the bill endangers transgender youth by barring them from being able to medically transition, which decreases rates of suicide and depression.
“Lawmakers are insisting that they know what’s best for transgender young people and ignoring the recommendations of medical experts, including the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Medical Association, and more,” Allison Scott, a director at the Campaign for Southern Equality, said in a statement Tuesday. “It’s effectively endangering many possible lifelines for a transgender child: Under this bill, they can’t go to their doctor for help, and they can’t seek counsel or comfort from their teachers or school staff.”
Since we don’t allow children to decide what they eat or wear nor do we force them to choose massive life decisions like career paths or marriage, the same standard must apply to gender. Without fully developed frontal lobes, children are simply incapable of making life-altering choices for their health, choices with irreversible effects and can cause immense damage to their growing bodies.
If parents wish to affirm the child’s desire to identify as a certain gender, that’s a decision allowed to be made in the home. However, the state must step in to prevent parents from permanently modifying a child’s body and sabotaging their body’s development based upon what could possibly be nothing more than an overactive imagination. Once adults, they are free to make their own decisions for their health. But the Alabama bill must catch on to protect children from causing unalterable damage to their bodies.
