Tallahassee, Fla., Feb 4, 2020 / 13:19 pm
Several states this legislative session have introduced bills aimed at curtailing access to transgender surgery and puberty-blocking drugs for minors, as well as restricting biological males from competing in girls' high school sports.
South Dakota's House of Representatives last week passed a bill that would ban sex-reassignment surgery and puberty-blocking medication for minors, a measure which enjoys the support of the South Dakota Catholic Conference. The measure is expected to advance, as both the state House and the Senate hold Republican supermajorities.
In Florida, a similar measure is encountering opposition in the state's House. The bill, aiming to outlaw transgender surgery and hormone therapy for minors, has stalled in the House Health Quality Subcommittee, the Miami Herald reported Monday.
Senate Bill 1864 and its companion, House Bill 1365, would make it a felony for doctors to provide minors with hormone therapy, or to perform sex reassignment surgery, with a potential maximum penalty of a $10,000 fine or 15 years in prison, the Herald reports.