Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte signed SB99 on Friday. The law will protect children from dangerous, life-altering medical procedures.
Matt Shapr, Alliance Defending Freedom Senior Counsel, said young people deserve to live in a society that does not subject them to “risky experimental procedures to which they cannot effectively consent.”
“By enacting this legislation, Montana has taken a critical step toward protecting children and parents from being pressured into life-altering, often-sterilizing surgeries and drugs,” Sharp said. “Denying the truth that we are either male or female hurts people, especially vulnerable people. We commend Gov. Gianforte and the Montana Legislature for joining the growing coalition of states standing for truth by enacting these protections for our children.”
Meridian Baldacci, the Director of Strategy at Family Policy Alliance, said Montana’s message is that it takes child safety seriously.
“When a child is deeply struggling, he or she deserves meaningful help — not the harm of hormones and surgery,” Baldacci said. “And these interventions do cause serious harm. They often leave young people sterile, with a variety of irreversible maladies and physical changes, and the deep pain of regret. All this can happen before a child is even old enough to buy cough syrup over the counter.”
Thirteen states have passed similar legislation:
Alabama
Arizona
Arkansas
Idaho
Iowa
Indiana
Kentucky
Mississippi
Montana
North Dakota
South Dakota
Tennessee
Utah
