BIRMINGHAM, Alabama (LifeSiteNews) – A new ban on “gender transitions” for children took effect in Alabama on Sunday, prompting medical providers across the state to stop prescribing experimental transgender drugs to kids.
Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey last month signed the Vulnerable Child Compassion and Protection Act (VCCPA), which outlaws “prescribing or administering” hormones and puberty blockers to gender-confused minors under age 19.
The law also bans sterilizing “sex change” surgeries and other procedures to remove “healthy or non-diseased body part[s] or tissue” of a child. People who violate the measure can face felony charges and up to 10 years in prison.
“If the Good Lord made you a boy, you’re a boy. If He made you a girl, you’re a girl,” Gov. Ivey tweeted Monday. “It’s Alabama common sense.”
If the Good Lord made you a boy, you’re a boy. If He made you a girl, you’re a girl. It’s Alabama common sense. #alpolitics https://t.co/07eraX6yqI
— Kay Ivey (@kayiveyforgov) May 9, 2022
After the law came into force, Children’s of Alabama, the state’s top children’s hospital, told AL.com that it will cease providing hormone drugs to minors. “Patients who are affected by the Alabama Vulnerable Child Compassion and Protection Act have been made aware of the impact of the law,” said the hospital, which includes a “gender clinic.”
University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) Hospital, which also houses a gender clinic, likewise affirmed that it will “comply with the law.”
In the last two weeks, the UAB gender clinic has contacted “about 100 recent patients” to get them prescriptions to keep using puberty blockers or cross-sex hormones into next year, though some pharmacies have reportedly declined to fill them, according to AL.com.
RELATED: Tennessee gov. signs bills to restrict abortion drugs, ban males from women’s college sports
U.S. District Judge Liles Burke, a Trump appointee, did not rule on a request to block enforcement of the VCCPA before it took effect, and a decision is expected later this week.
Several left-wing activist organizations, including the Southern Poverty Law Center and the Human Rights Campaign, have filed suit against Alabama on behalf of two doctors and at least four gender-confused minors and their parents. The Biden Department of Justice has since joined the lawsuit.
“The science and common sense are on Alabama’s side. We will win this fight to protect our children,” said Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall last week.
Health risks, shaky science
Alabama is among a growing list of Republican-led states that have taken action against pediatric “gender transitions” in recent years. In April 2021, Arkansas approved a similar ban on transgender drugs and surgeries for kids, but an Obama-appointed judge temporarily blocked it from coming into effect last summer.
Tennessee has also restricted hormone drugs for prepubescent children, and Arizona last month outlawed underage “sex change” surgeries. In Texas, Gov. Greg Abbott recently directed state agencies to investigate “any reported instances” of Texas kids undergoing “abusive gender-transitioning procedures.”
Puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones are both linked to serious and potentially life-threatening side effects, including cardiovascular diseases, and neither have been approved by the FDA for gender dysphoria or studied in controlled clinical trials with gender-confused minors.
UPDATE (1/29/21) - On day one of the new administration, Biden signed an Executive Order dismantling girls sports, and allowing biological boys back into girls locker-rooms.
The order declares: "Children should be able to learn without worrying about whether they will be denied access to the rest room, the locker room, or school sports. . . . All persons should receive equal treatment under the law, no matter their gender identity or sexual orientation."
This affront to reason effectively signals an end to girls' and women's sports, and diminishes their effort to compete on a level playing field.
Though this petition has already been delivered once, we will deliver new signatures to the US Dept of Education when restrictions permit, in honor of Selina Soule, who filed a complaint with the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) in 2019.
UPDATE (5/29/20) - US Dep’t of Education: Letting males compete in girls’ sports violates female athletes’ civil rights
UPDATE (2/13/20) - Selina Soule and two other Connecticut high school girl track athletes, Alanna Smith and Chelsea Mitchell, have sued the Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference (CIAC) to stop boys who claim to be girls from competing in their sport.
Soule is the same high school girl who, last year, filed a complaint with the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR). That complaint is still ongoing, as the OCR has not yet handed down its guidance ruling.
This also explains why this petition is still ongoing. Please SIGN and SHARE.
But, with another track season soon coming to an end, the girls' attorneys have asked the Court for an injunction that would stop the CIAC from implementing its current policy while the lawsuit proceeds.
Soule, Smith, and Mitchell will soon run in regional and state meets, competing for state championships. This year, they would like to have the opportunity to win, fair and square.
Please learn more about the latest news concerning this case, here: https://www.lifesitenews.com/opinion/three-girls-sue-state-to-stop-boys-who-say-theyre-girls-from-competing-in-their-sport
Then, please SIGN this petition. Thank you!
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Selina Soule is a female athlete who now must compete against biological males because of Connecticut's policy requiring that boys who identify as girls be admitted into girls' sports competitions.
But, when boys compete in girls' sports, they win because they have a natural advantage. It's scientifically proven, and it's also common sense.
This crushes the motivation of the biological girls who have worked hard to compete on a level playing field, only to enter into competitions which they can never win, despite all of their efforts.
It also puts girls into harm's way in contact sports, AND it deprives female athletes of their right to fairly compete for college scholarships and other accolades.
This is wrong! And, that's why this URGENT petition supports Selina and all the other female athletes out there, who have put in the hours on the track or on the court.
Please SIGN this common sense petition supporting Selina Soule's complaint to the Dept of Education's Office for Civil Rights, against Connecticut's discriminatory policy.
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/high-school-girl-files-federal-complaint-for-having-to-race-boys
*Above photo credit: Michael Goodin / The Daily Signal
Sweden in February effectively banned the drugs for children with gender dysphoria, citing health risks and uncertain science. Finland has issued similar guidelines.
Studies show that as few as two percent of boys and 10 percent of girls with gender dysphoria experience the condition after puberty, according to the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders.