INDIANAPOLIS (LifeSiteNews) — The governor of Indiana has signed legislation to protect gender-confused children from partaking in irreversible drugs and surgeries.
On Wednesday, Republican Gov. Eric Holcomb signed into law a bill that prohibits medical professionals from distributing puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones as well as committing “gender transition” surgeries for citizens under the age of 18.
Holcomb, who has previously vetoed pro-family legislation, reluctantly signed the bill after criticizing it.
READ: Indiana lawmakers override GOP governor’s veto, ban ‘transgender’ men from women’s sports
“A physician or other practitioner may not aid or abet another physician practitioner in the provision of gender transition procedures of a minor,” SB 480 states. “This section does not prohibit a physician or other practitioner from providing … services to individuals born with a medically verifiable disorder of sex development.”
Forbidden drugs include estrogen, testosterone, and progesterone which are “given to an individual in an amount greater than would normally be produced endogenously in a healthy individual of that individual’s age and sex.”
“Gender transition procedures” include “physician’s services, practitioner’s services, inpatient and outpatient hospital services, or prescribed drugs related to gender transition.” Within these settings, any drug or procedure to “alter or remove physical or anatomical characteristics or features that are typical of the individual’s sex” or “instill … characteristics that resemble a sex different from the individual’s sex” are strictly prohibited.
A “health care facility owned by the state, a county, or a municipality” and medical professionals “employed by state, county, or local government” are all forbidden from offering any form of hormonal or surgical intervention for gender-confused minors.
Any professional who “takes any action that aids and abets another physician or practitioner in the provision of gender transition procedures for a minor violates the standards of practice under and is subject to discipline by the board regulating the physician or practitioner.”
Minors and their parents or guardians can take legal action against violating parties and “may seek to obtain compensatory damages, injunctive relief, declaratory relief, or any other appropriate relief” in court. Legal complaints on behalf of minors can be taken until two years after the violation occurred, and when the victim turns 18, he or she “may bring a cause of action at any time until the individual reaches 28 years of age.”
Mutilating drugs which are begun prior to June 30 may continue until December 31, with the new law going into effect on January 1, 2024.
The LGBT agenda and push for “gender transitions” continues to permeate American culture, backed by the Biden administration and Democrat-led states like New Jersey, which recently the state’s governor declared a safe haven for so-called “gender affirming care.” A new executive order is now forcing New Jersey government agencies to help children receive irreversible drugs and surgeries.
Meanwhile, several states, including Tennessee, Arkansas, South Dakota, Iowa, and Mississippi, have all enacted laws in 2023 prohibiting the use of puberty blockers, cross sex hormones, and surgeries in the name of “gender transitions” for minors.
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