On Wednesday, West Virginia became the latest state to pass a bill into law banning the practice of so-called “gender transition” surgeries on minors.
As reported by Politico, Governor Jim Justice (R-W.V.) signed the bill forbidding anyone under the age of 18 from being given puberty blockers or other forms of “hormone therapy.” Children under 18 are now also prohibited from undergoing surgeries to mutilate or remove their genitalia, in what far-left activists falsely describe as “gender-affirming care.”
The law, which takes effect in January 2024, does make an exception for anyone who is diagnosed with gender dysphoria by at least two doctors, one of whom must be a mental health provider. The bill also allows doctors to prescribe hormone therapy if the patient in question is considered at-risk for self-harm or suicide.
Gender dysphoria is the official term for transgenderism, a mental illness in which someone believes their “gender identity” to be different from their actual biological gender. In an effort to rewrite language, pro-trans activists have claimed that one’s gender is something that is simply “assigned” at birth by the attending physician, rather than an irreversible biological fact based on one’s sexual organs.
One of the most common trends among those with gender dysphoria is a high rate of suicide and suicide attempts. A study by the Williams Institute at UCLA School of Law in 2017 estimated that the state of West Virginia has the highest per capita rate of so-called “trans” youth out of any state in the country, and that the rate of suicidal thoughts and ideas is three times higher among the state’s “trans” youth than it is among normal youth.
West Virginia joins 10 other states that have passed laws either restricting or outright banning sex change surgeries for minors, the others being Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, Georgia, Iowa, Kentucky, Mississippi, Tennessee, Utah, and South Dakota. Roughly two dozen more states across the country are considering similar legislation.