Bill Banning Transgender Operations on Children to Move Forward In Alabama

A bill to prohibit doctors from performing transgender medical treatments on minor-aged children moved ahead in two committees of the Alabama Legislature on Wednesday, bringing it another step closer to becoming law.

Introduced last week, the Vulnerable Child Compassion and Protection Act, which is sponsored by Republican state lawmakers Rep. Wes Allen and Sen. Shay Shelnutt, would “prohibit the performance of a medical procedure or the prescription or issuance of medication, upon or to a minor child, that is intended to alter the minor child’s gender or delay puberty” and would make doing so a class C felony under state law. It does, however, make exception in the case of procedures “undertaken to treat a minor born with a medically verifiable disorder of sex development.”

According to a story at AL.com, the bill is now ready to be considered and voted on in both of the state’s legislative chambers:

The Alabama House Health Committee approved Allen’s bill [Wednesday] morning after 10 people spoke at a public hearing on the measure, five in favor and five against. They included medical professionals on both sides and people with first-hand experiences on both sides. The committee approval moves the bill in line for consideration by the full House. . .

The Senate Health Committee followed with a public hearing on Shelnutt’s bill that included some of the same speakers and some different speakers. Both hearings drew overflow crowds. The Senate Health Committee approved Shelnutt’s bill on a 10-1 vote, sending it to the full Senate.

(Read more from “Bill Banning Transgender Operations on Children to Move Forward” HERE)

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