Alabama Senate Passes Bill Banning Transgender Treatment on Children

Alabama’s Senate passed a bill last week that could make it the first state in the U.S. to ban gender-change therapy for children. 

The bill, known as the Vulnerable Child Compassion and Protection Act, would establish criminal penalties for doctors who prescribe drugs “intended to alter the minor child’s gender or delay puberty.” It also would ban gender-change surgeries on minors and prohibit schools from withholding information to parents if a child perceives “his or her gender or sex is inconsistent with the minor’s sex.”

The bill passed the state Senate, 22-3, and now moves to the House of Representatives. South Dakota’s House passed a similar bill earlier this year, although it subsequently was killed by a Senate committee. 

Alabama state Sen. Shay Shelnutt, a Republican, said the bill is needed. 

“I just don’t think and others don’t think that kids should be given experimental drugs or surgeries that could have irreversible consequences for the rest of their life,” Shelnutt said, according to AL.com. “Kids are not fully developed until later in life. I think we can all agree that kids aren’t capable of making certain decisions until certain ages. And so, we want to just stop these procedures from happening in Alabama.”

The bill says the “long-term effects and safety” of “puberty-blocking medications” and “cross sex hormones” to children has…