The new Wyoming law that prohibits doctors in the state from performing sex-change surgeries on minors, or prescribe to minors puberty blockers or cross-sex hormones will take effect on July 1st. After that, healthcare professionals who do so risk losing their license to practice in the state.
The bill was signed with some reservations by Governor Mark Gordon in March, saying he believed that the government is straying into the personal affairs of families.
Dr. Michael Sanderson, a pediatrician in Sheridan and the Wyoming chapter president of the American Academy of Pediatrics, said the ban will present a challenge to Wyoming families, albeit a small number.
“There is a very small number of minor patients in Wyoming (whose) families will be forced to either move out of state to continue their treatment or to drive to Colorado on a regular basis to both see their prescribing physician and get their prescriptions from an out of state pharmacy,” according to Cowboy State Daily.
While Sanderson contends there are no sex-change operations surgeries occurring on minors in Wyoming, he didn’t say whether doctors are currently prescribing puberty blockers and other hormone therapies that have lasting effects.
The law is named after Chloe Cole, an anti-transgender activist and de-transitioner who was treated with hormone blockers and given a double mastectomy between the ages of 13 and 17. Cole testified before the state legislature in February, before the bill became law.
“I came here today as an early warning to the state of Wyoming,” she told the Senate Labor, Health and Social Services Committee. “I am a victim of this gender ideology that has been spread across the country through the internet.”
Cole is also suing Keiser Permanente, the California hospital system that performed the procedures. The suit says her parents signed forms that failed to mention the known risks pertaining to puberty blockers and testosterone treatments,” including side effects like permanent fertility loss, painful intercourse, increased risk of osteoporosis, bone fractures.
The American Civil Liberties Union of Wyoming contends the law will “undermine the fundamental rights of parents,” and violates constitutional rights to equal protection and due process.
Wyoming will become the 24th state to have a ban on sex change procedures for minors on its books. Court injunctions in Florida, Idaho and Montana have blocked those states’ bans for the time being. A federal court struck down a ban in Arkansas, saying it was unconstitutional. Lawsuits are currently in progress in 12 other states.
