| PIERRE, SD – Yesterday, South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem signed a bill into law that bans harmful and experimental puberty blockers and mutilating irreversible surgeries for children and teens who struggle with gender confusion. Gov. Noem signed HB 1080, also known as the “Help Not Harm” bill, after the state legislature overwhelmingly passed it 30-4. South Dakota is now the seventh state to enact legislation to protect children from these procedures, joining Utah, Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Tennessee, and Texas. “South Dakota’s kids are our future. With this legislation, we are protecting kids from harmful, permanent medical procedures. I will always stand up for the next generation of South Dakotans,” said Noem. According to the new law, “a healthcare professional may not, for the purpose of attempting to alter the appearance of, or to validate a minor’s perception of, the minor’s sex, if that appearance or perception is inconsistent with the minor’s sex.” |
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| This means that a medical professional may not: (1) “Prescribe or administer any drug to delay or stop normal puberty; (2) Prescribe or administer testosterone, estrogen, or progesterone, in amounts greater than would normally be produced endogenously in a healthy individual of the same age and sex; (3) Perform any sterilizing surgery, including castration, hysterectomy, oophorectomy, orchiectomy, penectomy, and vasectomy; (4) Perform any surgery that artificially constructs tissue having the appearance of genitalia differing from the minor’s sex, including metoidioplasty, phalloplasty, and vaginoplasty; or (5) Remove any healthy or non-diseased body part or tissue.” In addition, punishments for doctors who violate the law includes revoking their medical license and exposing them to civil litigation. Additionally, any minor who was given puberty blockers before July 1, 2023, and it is determined that “immediately terminating the minor’s use of the drug or hormone would cause harm to the minor,” then the drugs can be “systematically reduced” during a period that “may not extend beyond December 31, 2023.” Liberty Counsel represents licensed counselors who provide life-saving counseling to minors who desperately desire to conform their attractions, behaviors, and gender identities to their sincerely held religious beliefs. Liberty Counsel won two cases at the federal court of appeals striking down these laws under the First Amendment. Liberty Counsel Founder and Chairman Mat Staver said, “We commend Gov. Kristi Noem and the South Dakota legislators for protecting children in their state from this medical mutilation. The assault on our children to push them into these harmful procedures without fully comprehending the consequences is appalling. More states must protect minors from irreversible and unnecessary medications and mutilating surgeries.” Liberty Counsel is a public law firm and a news partner with the Wyoming News and Montana News. |
