State lawmakers will continue to debate a bill that would make it a crime to provide certain medical care or treatments to transgender children under 16.
House Republicans who support the proposal say their goal is to protect transgender children from undergoing irreversible procedures. Some doctors say it criminalizes their medical practice.
The House Bill would prohibit medical professionals from prescribing puberty-blocking medication, as well as performing surgeries for young transgender patients. Lawmakers have offered similar bills in a number of states recently.
The House State Affairs committee made a few changes before passing the South Dakota version. A physician would face a misdemeanor rather than felony charges. A patient would need to be 16 to receive treatment designed to affirm their gender.
Republican Jon Hansen is a representative from Dell Rapids. He supports the bill. He says children need state protection under the law because they don’t always know what’s best for them.
“Kids will say, ‘How long is it going to be before we leave?’ and you say an hour,” Hansen says. “The kid says ‘An hour, that’s crazy, I can’t believe it’s going to take an hour.’ They have no concept of even short time frames. We’re talking about life-altering decisions that they’ll live with the rest of their life. That’s why we pass these protections.”
Children and teens who are uncomfortable with their gender assignment at birth can be diagnosed with gender dysphoria. That’s the case for Quinncy Parke, a non-binary 17-year-old from Sioux Falls.
Their mother, Kim Parke, says they worked with multiple counselors and psychologists. Ultimately a doctor prescribed puberty-blocking medication for Quinncy.
“It wasn’t a simple process,” Kim says. “It was a long, drawn-out—multiple visits. A lot of time thinking about it, hoping that we would end up making the right decision. In the end, we did.”
Some lawmakers question the need for a law that bans some medical treatments for young transgender patients. They ask how such a measure would be practically enforced.
Two dozen doctors attended the hearing to oppose the bill. Representatives from the South Dakota Medical Association and Sanford Health say they are against the proposal. According to Sanford, of their one million patients last year, fewer than 20 under 18 were treated with gender dysphoria. Not all were even South Dakota residents.
Dr. Michelle Schimelpfenig is a pediatrician at Sanford Health in Sioux Falls and president of the South Dakota chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics.
“This bill is concerning because it directly impacts the relationship we have with our patients and physicians,” Schimelpfenig says. “It allows legislation to come in and make decisions, rather than letting medical professionals do that in the context of their patients and families.”
Dr. Schimelpfenig urges lawmakers not to make medical professionals choose between patient care and jail.
Republican Representative Fred Deutsch is the prime sponsor of the bill. He says medical professionals disagree about appropriate treatment.
“I know there are pediatricians that support the bill,” Deutsch says. “I don’t know that any spoke out here in the room. But, I know there are a host of pediatricians that support the bill.”
Deutsch says puberty-blocking medication and the procedures listed in the bill are a “medical experiment on children.”
Deutsch acknowledges there are similar bills in states like Florida.
“Other organizations and legislators have emailed me indicating they’d like to look at the bill because they’re thinking of doing something similar,” Deutsch says.
However, there’s also opposition to the bill from outside the medical community. The South Dakota Chamber of Commerce is also against it.
David Owen is president of the group. He says proponents are sincere in trying to protect young people, but South Dakota doesn’t need to be one of the first to try this approach.
“Seen a record across the country that when states start considering special treatment for selected classes of people using restrictions or guidance or rules that are often viewed as draconian, it has economic consequences,” Owen says.
17-year-old Quinncy Parke says the bill removes hope for transgender kids by taking away medical help and making them wait for it until they are older.
“By lengthening that wait and by saying there’s no chance of shortening that wait, that is what harms the most.
House Bill 1057 is one of the first to make it out of committee and now heads to the house floor.
Politics and public policy reporting is supported by The Center for Western Studies at Augustana University
