The South Carolina House of Representatives voted Wednesday night to advance House Bill 4624, which would deny medically necessary care to transgender youth.
ACLU-SC Executive Director Jace Woodrum gave the following response:
“Today the House of Representatives voted to rip healthcare away from South Carolina kids. They ignored doctors, mental health professionals, and parents -- and decided that they know best. If this bill becomes law, kids will be forced to stop receiving care, putting their mental and physical well-being at risk. Parents will be forced to wonder why their lawmakers didn't respect their parental rights. Voters will question why lawmakers prioritized a cruel attack on a small population of kids during the first weeks of session.
“Taking healthcare away from kids isn't protecting them. The House doesn't seem to know that. I hope the Senate does.”
Before voting to advance this dangerous, thoughtless bill, lawmakers rejected amendments that would have reduced its harm. An amendment proposed by Rep. J.A. Moore would have allowed physicians to continue prescribing hormone treatment or puberty blockers to minors who begin treatment before Jan. 1, 2025. Rep. Marvin Pendarvis proposed an amendment that would have deleted a ban on public funds being used for adults’ gender-affirming care.
Both amendments failed. The bill advances now to the Senate.
In a state where 1 in 8 children go hungry and rural schools are crumbling, most members of the South Carolina House of Representatives made one thing clear in the first two weeks of session this year: They don’t care about protecting kids.
As we watched hours of fact-free debate today, we issued a few fact-checks and clarifications on social media. They are available below with links to relevant sources.
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https://www.endocrine.org/news-and-advocacy/news-room/2019/transgender-custody-statement
