Alabama Bans Transgender Grooming of Children

Alabama lawmakers passed a bill that would make it a felony for a doctor to prescribe puberty blockers or perform gender-change surgery on minors.

The criminal penalty would be up to 10 years in prison.

The legislation also requires school counselors, nurses and others to tell parents if a child discloses they believe they are transgender.

The Alabama Senate also voted 26-5 to approve legislation mandating that K-12 students can only use multi-person bathrooms and locker rooms that correspond with the gender on their original birth certificate.

Senate Republicans added language that would ‘prohibit classroom instruction or discussion on sexual orientation or gender identity’ for students K- 5.

🚨BREAKING: Alabama Governor just SIGNED #HB322 & #SB184 into law! The legislation bans the sexual/gender indoctrination of children and prohibits hormone blockers, genital mutilation, and gender reassignment surgeries.

— Tim Swain (@_TimSwain_) April 8, 2022

“I believe very strongly if the good Lord made you a boy, you are a boy, and if he made you a girl, you are a girl,” Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey said in a statement on the bill.

“We should especially protect our children from these radical, life-altering drugs and surgeries when they are at such a vulnerable stage in life. Instead, let us focus on helping them to properly develop into the adults God intended them to be,” she added.

The Daily Mail reported:

The Alabama Vulnerable Child Compassion and Protection Act makes it a felony for doctors to perform medical procedures or prescribe medication to minors who want to alter their appearance, gender or delay puberty. The criminal penalty would be up to 10 years in prison.

The bill passed the Alabama House 66-28. The American Civil Liberties Union said the bill was the first of its kind to make trans healthcare a felony and promised to challenge it in court.

The legislation also purports to ban puberty blockers, which it says can cause infertility and other health risks.

Democrats who opposed the bill said it contradicted Republican principals of small government.

‘This is not small government; this is not a conservative bill,’ Democratic Rep. Neil Rafferty told the chamber.

But Republican Rep. Wes Allen likened the initiative to laws that prevent minors from getting tattoos or buying nicotine products.

‘We make decisions in this body all the time that are to protect children from making decisions that could permanently harm them,’ Allen said.

Last year Ivey signed a bill banning transgender youth from playing in sports that align with their gender identity.

Here are links to HB322 & SB184.