The governor of Montana has signed into law a bill banning transgender medical procedures for children within the state.
Republican Governor of Montana, Greg Gianforte, has officially signed into law a bill banning transgender treatments for children under the age of 18.
The move has prompted outrage from left-wing politicians and media outlets, some of whom have branded the ban on what they call “gender-affirming medical and surgical care” as “tantamount to torture”, with the governor’s own “non-binary” son calling on Gianforte to drop the bill.
However, according to a report by the New York Times, the legislation has now officially been signed into law by the Republican leader despite dramatic claims by some Democrat lawmakers that the bill effectively puts “blood” on the hands of those who passed it.
Republicans have not been deterred by such statements, with the law banning hormone treatments as well as transgender surgeries for all children in the state.
“[The governor] is committed to protecting Montana’s children from invasive medical treatments that can permanently alter their healthy, developing bodies,” a spokesman for Gianforte’s office said in the wake of the law’s signing.
NGOs and activists groups in the United States are already said to be plotting legal challenges to the legislation, with the American Civil Liberties Union committing themselves to file a lawsuit against the state in order “to protect transgender youth in Montana from being stripped of access to health care that keeps them healthy and alive”.
Also recently signed into law by the governor is a bill that reportedly makes it more difficult for progressive-leaning schools in the state to punish students who refuse to call their colleagues by their preferred pronouns
“Children should not be forced to call somebody something they’re not,” Rep. Brandon Ler said regarding the legislation last February.
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