        The South Dakota State Senate has passed and sent to Gov Kristi Noem a  bill to ban gender-altering medical care for minors.
The bill received final legislative approval on a party line vote 30 to 4 after having earlier sailed through the South Dakota House.
The measure, similar to one still in committee in Nebraska, prohibits health care providers from administering medical interventions such as puberty blockers, hormone treatments, and surgeries for gender dysphoria to patients younger than 19
A bipartisan attempt to remove the ban on puberty blockers failed in the Senate. Supporters of the bill say blockers are inhumane and cause permanent damage to the body, but they are used regularly on non-trans-gender children who start puberty early.
The senators who tried to strip out the ban argued parents, children, and doctors should be allowed to work together to figure out how best to each child the chance to have the best life possible and not end up in suicide.
The bill is part of a national effort to prohibit some forms of healthcare for transgender youth. Similar laws have already passed in Arkansas and Alabama, but have yet to go into effect because of federal court challenges..
Local health care officials, including the Nebraska and South Dakota State Medical Associations say health care for transgender youth is complex, calling the bill government intervention on the doctor-patient relationship.
Sign the bill!