PIERRE, S.D. (KELO.com) — The South Dakota House of Representatives has passed the bill that would prohibit medical gender procedures on children under the age of sixteen.
House Majority Leader Lee Qualm of Platte says gender-transforming surgery and drugs are dangerous.
Qualm says he has learned in his research that the use of gender-transforming drugs on minors stunts their growth at best, and he says it’s almost a guarantee these kids will be sterile.
House Minority Leader Jamie Smith of Sioux Falls says the debate takes away time from other important issues. The bill next goes to the Senate Health and Human Services Committee.
The ACLU has threatened to sue South Dakota over the bill; Liberty Counsel has offered pro bono legal representation for the state in case that happens.
(Colin Strombeck of KELO Radio News contributed this report with help from WNAX.)
