The state of Oklahoma has approved a legislation making it illegal for minors to undergo gender-affirming surgery or hormone therapy in an effort to delay or prevent the start of puberty.
Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt signed a bill that would ban medical transgender therapy for minors. Surgery for transgender people and puberty suppressants are now illegal in California.
The decision has outraged liberals in the United States, and many groups have already threatened legal action against the state over the new legislation.
According to Fox News, Senate Bill 613 became law on Monday after being signed by Stitt. It is now illegal to provide medicines that prevent puberty to kids.
Transgender surgery and hormone therapy for kids is forbidden.
If doctors disobey the new restrictions, they risk having their licenses taken away and being sued by their patients’ families.
After promising throughout the campaign to outlaw medical transgenderism in the state, Governor Stitt finally fulfilled that pledge with the passage of this Act.
A new Republican governor of a state declared in his inaugural address, “Last year, I asked for a statewide ban on all irreversible gender transition surgeries and hormone therapies for minors, so I’m thrilled to sign this into law today and protect our kids.”
He then went on to say that the United States should be vigilant at home as well. As governor of Oklahoma, it is a privilege to uphold the law that prohibits these potentially life-changing surgery on children.
Regarding a forthcoming policy shift, the governor was quoted in February as saying, “We must safeguard our most vulnerable individuals, children.” In any case, underage voters are disqualified by the same laws that prevent them from purchasing booze and cigarettes. Long-term gender confirmation surgery shouldn’t be available to teenagers in Oklahoma.
By adopting these regulations, Oklahoma would join 15 other states in restricting or outright banning transgender surgery for minors. More than twenty states are actively considering legislation along similar lines.
In response to the bill, the ACLU of Oklahoma has threatened legal action, labeling it “anti-science.” Transgender youth under the age of 18 are protected by this organization’s efforts to ensure they have access to medical treatment that will allow them to “live authentically as themselves.” The Oklahoma State Capitol was invaded by trans rights supporters earlier this year, and many more people have spoken out against the measure since then.
Some leaders of the opposition even called it “genocide” to describe how bad it was.