NC House passes bill banning gender-affirming care for those under 18

Teens would be banned from receiving gender-affirming surgery even with a parent’s consent under legislation passed by the North Carolina House of Representatives on Wednesday.

House Bill 808, known as the Youth Health Protection Act, would also block the use of state funds for any gender transition-related medical care. It passed the House along party lines during a marathon voting session Wednesday afternoon.

Rep. Ken Fontentot, a Wilson Republican and co-sponsor of the bill, argued for the bill, saying there is no empirical proof that puberty blockers and other gender-affirming care works. He compared the medical treatment to Tuskegee medical experiments in the 1930s and the sterilization of poor women in North Carolina in the 1960s.

'You're killing my kid': Over protests, House advances bill to ban gender surgery for trans teens

His comments drew rebukes from Democrats.

No questions or comments from committee members or the public were allowed during a committee hearing Tuesday — a decision that drew vocal protests from opponents who were prevented from speaking out against the bill.

Representatives for Equality NC and the Campaign for Southern Equality, groups that advocate for transgender rights, issued a press release Monday calling the bill an “extreme overreach” that ignores the advice of medical professionals.

“North Carolina’s leading medical experts are demanding that lawmakers listen to their concerns, and accepted medical best practices, before rushing through this dangerous anti-LGBTQ+ agenda,” Allison Scott with the Campaign for Southern Equality said in a statement.