The discriminatory Senate Bill 10 died in the House before achieving enough backing from fellow legislators.
The Vulnerable Child Compassion and Protection Act is an outright discriminatory bill that was proposed by Republican senator Shay Shelnutt.
SB 10 was scheduled to be voted upon on May 17 but did not come up for a vote before the legislature session ended in the chamber. This means the bill will not be able to be considered or enacted this year.
The bill, which died at that Alabama State House, bans the act of “prescribing, dispensing, administering” puberty-blocking medication to stop or delay normal puberty.
The Vulnerable Child Compassion and Protection Act emphasises repercussions for those that do not adhere to the regulations.
Criminal penalties were established for healthcare professionals that did not adhere to the proposed legislation, violation of the act would result in a Class C felony.
Meaning healthcare professionals could face a 10-year prison sentence or a $15,000 fine for helping trans youth.
SB 10 aka the Vulnerable Child Compassion and Protection Act actively prevented trans youth from accessing gender-affirming healthcare.
It prohibited the performance of a medical procedure or the prescription or issuance of medication, upon or to a minor child, that is intended to alter the appearance of the minor child’s gender or delay puberty, with certain exceptions.
In the bill, teachers, nurses, counsellors and administrative official at public or private schools were encouraged to share information with a minor’s parents if they believed they were trans.
Kaitlin Welborn, an attorney for the ACLU of Alabama, described the death of the vicious bill as a “victory” while speaking to the Montgomery Advertiser.
“While the Alabama Legislature avoided passing this poorly designed bill, and we should all celebrate this victory for transgender people, for human rights, and for the state of Alabama, we know that this is not the last attack we will see on the transgender community,” Welborn said.
Alabama Republican governor, Kay Ivey, has signed a bill prohibiting trans athletes from participating in public school sporting events.
House Bill 391 was recently signed into law after passing a motion to be read a third time with a landslide vote of 25-5 in support of the legislation.
The bill states it will allow athletic “competition by one biological gender against another prohibited unless the event specifically includes both genders” which directly bans male and female trans participants.
House Bill 391 states separate athletic teams are necessary due to the athletes’ biological sex and to help “reduces the chance of injury to biological female athletes and promotes sex equality”.
The summary of the law continuously leans on biological makeup to defend its proposed legislation but does not explain how biological sex will be defined.
The lack of specified details is concerning as the House Bill could lead to invasive legislation and genital screenings.
The US has seen a disturbing rise of anti-trans bills being introduced and passed. Currently, there are more than 234 anti-LGBTQ bills under consideration in state legislatures across the US.
There are 122 proposed bills that directly discriminate against transgender people and more than 60 of these bills, like the Women’s Sports Act, ban transgender girls and women from participating in sports consistent with their gender identity.
Latest
