In Opposition
SC Minor Child Compassion and Protection Act (H.4047)
This bill would prohibit transgender people under the age of 18 from receiving essential medical care and create a school climate where they are unable to be themselves. The bill would make it a felony for medical professionals to provide transition-related care to transgender minors. Conviction could result in up to a 20-year prison sentence for the medical provider. The bill also requires teachers and staff at schools in South Carolina to share with students’ parents if they learn that a student’s “perception of [their] gender or sex is inconsistent with the minor's sex.” In effect, the bill essentially requires teachers to “out” transgender students to their parents, potentially before they are ready to share. A nearly identical bill is pending in Alabama.
WREN strongly opposes H.4047 because it jeopardizes the health and safety of transgender youth, threatens to criminalize physicians and nurse practitioners for providing trans-affirming care, and requires educators and school administrators to break the trust of their students.