IS GENDER AFFIRMING CARE HELPFUL OR HARMFUL? Senators and medical experts disagree on the issue at hearing

COLUMBIA, SC (WOLO) — Those supporting gender affirmation for youths in South Carolina are concerned about two new bills being proposed that would ban trans-related healthcare for children. 

But if they are passed, will they even be implemented?

“I think this bill moves us in a direction that will cost more children and young people their lives, “said USC med student Jordan Pennington.

“This is not a bill that’s about hating anybody. This is not a bill that restricts any adult from doing what they want with their lives. It is about protecting the innocence of kids,” said Sen. Josh Kimbrell, a Republican from Spartanburg. 

The bills being discussed Thursday by the Senate Medical Affairs Committee would ban trans-related healthcare for minors and prohibit trans people from changing their gender on their birth certificate.

Doctors testifying disagreed on whether gender affirming care is needed in South Carolina. 

“Gender affirming care is the standard of care,” said pediatrician Dr. Elizabeth Mack.

“Transition interventions are not proven effective, safe, do not reduce suicides and are not the standard of care for gender dysphoria,” said Dr. Richard McCain. 

“So many of my friends have recognized their gender dysphoria at a very young age,” Pennington said. “Many of them speak about how it would have made all the difference in their lives if they had been able to have access to care at an earlier time.”

The father of a child who has received gender affirming care spoke to the Senate committee. 

“As far as anyone is concerned, she’s a normal teenage girl that is enjoying life as she should,” said Charleston father David Bell. “The depression, disgust and tantrums have disappeared.”

Others disagreed that gender affirming care is the answer. 

“They need compassionate mental health care,” said Matt Sharp of Alliance Defending Freedom. “Radical activists and gender clinics alike have deceived children and their parents alike to believe that unnatural, life-altering puberty blockers, hormones and surgeries are the solutions to their struggles.”

Other southern states such as Alabama and Arkansas have passed bills similar to the ones being proposed, but they have been struck down by federal judges. Would the same thing happen in South Carolina?

“That’s hard to say,” said Sen. Richard Cash, a Republican from Anderson. “We’re still in the early stages of this law. I don’t think it’s been adjudicated as far as it’s going to be.”

“We are basically buying ourselves a lawsuit that has not been won in any other state and has cost other states millions of dollars,” said Sen. Brad Hutto, a Democrat from Orangeburg.

On Wednesday, senators will hold another hearing and hear from members of the public.