Wed Feb 9, 2022 – 10:08 pm ESTWed Feb 9, 2022 – 10:24 pm EST
(LifeSiteNews) – Bills filed in at least 16 states would ban sterilizing transgender drugs and surgeries for children, but few are advancing amid resistance from Republican leaders.
There are already around 20 active bills this year that would crack down on the practices, nearing past records in 2021 and 2020.
In South Carolina, a bill proposed by a Democratic state representative and sponsored by dozens of Republicans would prohibit “any individual” from giving hormone drugs to gender-confused minors or performing “sex change” surgeries on them. The bill, HB 4047, also bars anyone, including school officials, from encouraging kids to undergo the procedures. Violators could face felony charges and 20 years in prison under the policy.
Two similar bills introduced in Alabama last month would criminalize providing minors with the experimental drugs and surgeries as Class C felonies, with penalties of up to 10 years of jail time. One of the bills, SB 5, cleared the Alabama Senate Healthcare Committee on Wednesday and now heads to the GOP-controlled Senate for a floor vote.
Republican state Sen. Shay Shelnutt, who authored SB 5,
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