The Georgia Senate passed legislation Monday that would ban puberty blockers, which would affect children who want to change their gender.
Senate Bill 30 was adopted 34-19 Monday in a near party-line vote. It’s among several GOP-led bills this year addressing transgender issues.
Puberty blockers are medicines that suppress natural hormones in children, postponing puberty. Were SB 30 to become law, doctors and hospitals could lose their medical licenses for administering puberty blockers in minors.
Senate Republicans said the prohibition was needed for the safety of patients too young to consent.
Some other countries have banned puberty blockers in minors, said Sen. Ben Watson, R-Savannah, the chief sponsor of the bill. A medical doctor, Watson added that laws prohibit minors from smoking and other activities because their brains are not fully developed.
“We don’t allow minors to do a lot of things,” he said.
Watson said puberty blockers can cause long-term health impacts — to bone density, for instance.
“We’re asking them to make changes that will affect them for the rest of their lives,” he said.
Democrats said puberty blockers are reversible and that prohibiting them would expose a marginalized group to an even higher risk of suicide. They accused Republicans of pandering to a “far right” base that wishes transgender people didn’t exist.
Sen. Kim Jackson, D-Stone Mountain, who is gay, called the measure “the othering of a minority group for political gain.”
Democrats tried unsuccessfully to amend the bill to let medical providers continue providing puberty blockers to children who are already using them.
All the votes against SB 30 were by Democrats except one. Sen. Freddie Powell Sims, D-Dawson, crossed the aisle to vote for the measure. It now moves to the state House of Representatives.