On Wednesday, the Senate Health Care Committee passed House Bill 808 (H.B. 808), which would prohibit medical professionals from performing surgical gender transition procedures, giving puberty-blocking drugs, or giving cross-sex hormones to minors.
H.B. 808 already passed the House with bipartisan support by a vote of 74-44. Two Democrats—Reps. Michael Wray, D-Northampton; and Garland Pierce, D-Scotland, voted in favor of the bill.
All House Republicans voted in favor.
Several Senate Democrats spoke against the bill in committee, including Sens. Sydney Batch, D-Wake; and Mujtaba Mohammed, D-Mecklenburg.
Batch said that the suicide rate gets cut in half for “transgender and non-binary” kids who receive “gender affirming care.” Batch said that statistics previously cited by other members and public speakers were not accurate.
Dr. Steven Klein, MD, offered a statistic that disagreed with Batch.
Dr. Klein said that puberty blockers are associated with increased suicidality, and said they suppress estrogen and testosterone, which are important for brain development.
Additionally, Klein said that up to 75% of youth desist in their gender dysphoria by late adolescence.
Prisha Mosley, a 25 year old who underwent surgical operations to transition from female to male as a teenager, spoke about the detrimental effects of treatment to her body. Mosley de-transitioned, but said she still has permanent damage, including being unlikely to conceive a child and a lower voice, in addition to other serious issues, all of which resulted from the “gender affirming” drugs and surgeries she received while she was a minor.
Bill sponsors for H.B. 808 are Reps. Hugh Blackwell, R-Burke; Mark Pless, R-Haywood; Ken Fontenot, R-Wilson; and John Torbett, R-Gaston.
Senate sponsors are Ralph Hise, R-Mitchell; Buck Newton, R-Wilson; and Norm Sanderson, R-Pamlico. The Senate version is S.B. 639.
On Tuesday, the North Carolina House Health Committee passed a bill that would ban public health facilities, or any providers under contract with them, from performing surgical gender transition procedures on minors or providing them with puberty blocking drugs.