SC Senate to debate bill about banning transgender youth medical care, what to know

Just days before the legislative session ends on May 9, the South Carolina State Senate is expected to debate a bill that would ban medical care for transgender youth on Tuesday, April 30.

Passed by the House of Representatives after being introduced in the first week of the new legislative session in January, the bill bars anyone under the age of 18 from receiving gender reassignment surgery or any form of puberty-blocking or hormone therapy for transgender youth. If passed by the Senate, it would also make it a felony for doctors who perform gender assignment surgery on those under the age of 18.

Dr. Elizabeth Mack, president of the South Carolina Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics, testified against the bill during a Senate Medical Affairs Subcommittee on Feb. 14.

"We have less than 2,000 trans kids in the state, as far as we know, some never seeking medical care, and less than 1% are regretting their transition," she said.

While those in favor of the bill tout it intends to protect children, others point to studies that show transgender and non-binary youth who use hormones and puberty blockers show lowered signs of depression and anxiety.

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In February, Greenville County Libraries Board of Trustees unanimously voted to relocate children's materials depicting transgender minors from the children's section to the parenting section, where only adults or minors with library cards allowing them to check out books from any section can access them, as previously reported by the Greenville News.

More recently, South Carolina's Superintendent of Education Ellen Weaver instructed school districts not to implement new federal regulations unveiled by President Joe Biden that seek to protect vulnerable students, including LGBTQ+ students. The latest changes to Title IX, which will take place in August, add protections from discrimination based on gender identity. Title IX is a federal civil rights law banning sex-based discrimination for students and employees attending federally funded schools.

"By redefining the class of people that Title IX intends to protect, the Biden administration’s rule seeks to change the meaning and purpose of the underlying law, thus compelling the speech of students and teachers related to preferred pronoun use, upending biology-based protections for females in athletics, bathrooms, locker rooms, overnight accommodations, and other sex-separate spaces and activities; placing massive legal uncertaintyand compliance costs on districts; and creating chaos and confusion for teachers, students, and parents," Weaver wrote in a memo for district superintendents and South Carolina school board members.

Savannah Moss covers Greenville County politics and growth/development. Reach her at smoss@gannett.com or follow her on X @Savmoss.

This article originally appeared on Greenville News: What to know about SC Senate bill banning transgender youth medical care