“Medical mutilation is not the answer to gender confusion. While many states are passing laws to protect children, more states need to act before children are irreversibly harmed”
CHEYENNE, WY – Wyoming Governor Mark Gordon signed a bill that bans harmful puberty blockers, hormone treatments, and irreversible mutilating surgeries for minors. Gov. Gordon signed SF 0099 also known as the “Children Gender Change Prohibition,” after the state Senate overwhelmingly passed it 26-5 and the House passed it 36-25. Wyoming is now the 24th state to protect children from these experimental procedures.
According to
the new law, a medical practitioner may not: “Perform a surgery that
sterilizes the child, including castration, vasectomy, hysterectomy,
oophorectomy, metoidioplasty, orchiectomy, penectomy, phalloplasty and
vaginoplasty. In addition, health care providers may not “Perform a
mastectomy; Provide, administer, prescribe or dispense…drugs that induce
transient or permanent infertility” including “puberty suppression or
blocking prescription drugs to stop or delay normal puberty;” or “Remove
any otherwise healthy or nondiseased body part or tissue.”
The law also
enacts penalties for health care professionals who provide these
procedures to minors, such as revoking or suspending licenses to
practice in the state.
Similar laws
in Kentucky, Tennessee, and Oklahoma have been upheld by federal
courts, while laws in Alabama, Florida, Indiana, Montana, and Idaho are
temporarily blocked as legal challenges are adjudicated. In Arkansas, a
federal judge declared in June 2023 that its “Save Adolescents from Experimentation (SAFE) Act”
was unconstitutional. However, Arkansas has appealed the ruling, and
the U.S. Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals approved the state’s request
for all 11 judges on the Court, rather than a three-judge panel, to hear
its appeal.
In addition to being physically mutilating, the American College of Pediatricians (ACPeds) stated
in a position statement that there is no “long-term evidence” these
procedures improve mental health. ACPeds, a 600-member national
organization of health care professionals, also declared that they could
not “condone” puberty blockers, hormone treatments, and mutilating
surgeries on gender-confused minors. Numerous studies
show that these mutilating procedures do not relieve gender confusion,
which is linked to other underlying mental health issues. ACPeds further
noted the “unfortunate” nature of how politicized health care for
gender confusion has become, and recommended medical societies begin to
align with the “best evidence available” which shows mental health
therapy should be the “first line of treatment” for gender confusion. Data
shows up to 88 percent of girls and up to 98 percent of boys with
gender confusion “will desist” when they receive counseling that is
“directed toward underlying psychological issues.”
Yet, the “gender surgery industry,” which is expected to grow
to a $5 billion industry by 2030, continues to surgically mutilate
children and adults while ignoring this growing amount of research and
data.
Liberty
Counsel Founder and Chairman Mat Staver said, “Medical mutilation is not
the answer to gender confusion. While many states are passing laws to
protect children, more states need to act before children are
irreversibly harmed.”
For more information about state laws protecting against gender ideology, visit Liberty Counsel’s website here.
Liberty Counsel is an international nonprofit, litigation, education, and policy organization dedicated to advancing religious freedom, the sanctity of life, and the family since 1989, by providing pro bono assistance and representation on these and related topics.
