Lawmakers in conservative states are responding to the surge in minors who identify as transgender with legislation banning child sex-change procedures.
So far, lawmakers in 12 states have banned child sex-change procedures. Nineteen more states have similar bills moving through the process.
Yet, in at least two states—California and Minnesota—lawmakers are building momentum to pass measures designed instead to make it easier for children to “transition” to another gender. The bills would allow law enforcement officers to remove children from homes where their chosen gender is not “affirmed.”
Of the 19 states eyeing a ban on so-called “gender-affirming care,” 12 have Republican-controlled legislatures, which are more likely to outlaw the use of puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, and sex-change surgeries for children seeking a new “gender identity.” …