Alabama Senate votes to make hormone therapy for youths a felony

Children under the age of 16, depending on what state they live in, can't give consent according to law. But apparently, it's okay to start children on hormone blockers at the age of seven, this is a precedent that was created in the James Younger case.

Senators voted 23-4 to approve the legislation, dubbed the Vulnerable Child Compassion and Protection Act. This act was sponsored by Rep. Shay Shelnutt, a current member of the Alabama State Senate. This bill is now currently on its way to the state House of Representatives, which has already approved a companion bill.

Overall, these two bills would cooperatively make it a crime/felony for medical professionals to treat transgender minors under the mutually-agreed consensual age of 19 with any gender-affirming care.

Any medical professional caught violating this act could face up to 10 years in prison and/or a maximum fine of $15,000.

This bill, however, doesn't just require that medical professionals stop treating transgender kids with any relevant "gender treatment", it also forces school staff to disclose to parents whether a "minors perception that his or her gender is inconsistent with his or her sex." Essentially, teachers would be required to "out" students believing they want to be transgender to his/her parent/guardian. Furthermore, this bill isn't limited to transgender teens and further bans any surgery that involves changing a teen's vital sexual organs.

Rep. Shelnutt made it clear to reporters that

"Kids are not fully developed until later in life. I think we can all agree that kids aren't capable of making certain decisions until certain ages. And so we want to just stop these procedures from happening in Alabama.", he also told the associated press that "the whole point is to protect kids."

Many have stated that allowing a child who can not yet give consent to have a life-changing surgery that is irreversible and unnecessary is evil and should be considered child abuse. Well, we're one step close to acting on that philosophy.

Conclusively, performing transgender operations and surgeries on a minor is child abuse and should be treated as such.