(LifeSiteNews) — Texas has banned puberty blockers, cross sex hormones, and surgeries for gender-confused children.
Republican Gov. Greg Abbott signed a bill on Friday which effectively prohibits child mutilation through so-called “sex change” drugs and procedures. Texas has thus joined other Republican-led states that have enacted similar legislation.
The signing of the new law comes weeks after the state Senate approved the bill by a 19-12 vote. As previously reported by LifeSiteNews, SB 14 bars the use of puberty blockers, cross sex hormones, and so-called “gender-reassignment” surgeries “for the purpose of transitioning a child’s biological sex as determined by the sex organs, chromosomes, and endogenous profiles of the child or affirming the child’s perception of the child’s sex if that perception is inconsistent with the child’s biological sex.”
Minors who are currently pursuing any of the since banned medications or procedures are permitted to leave their “treatment” plans over time “and in a manner that is safe and medically appropriate and that minimizes the risk of complications.”
Government funding or reimbursement for the so-called “sex changes” of minors is also barred under the law. SB 14 will take effect on September 1, 2023.
The new law is the latest endeavor of Texas leaders in rejecting the LGBT agenda, protecting vulnerable children and the traditional family, and defending truth. In April, while progressing SB 14 in the legislature, lawmakers also passed a ban on males competing against females in athletic events. The ban on child mutilation became law despite LGBT activists swarming the state capitol in protest.
A total of 13 states have banned drugs and surgeries in the name of child “gender transitions” while another four now have laws to restrict child mutilation. Bans in Arkansas and Alabama are currently blocked in court, and five others have been passed in at least one legislative chamber.
READ: ‘Child abuse’: Ted Cruz demands answers from Texas hospital caught ‘transitioning’ 8-year-olds