South Carolina Bans Healthcare for Trans Youth and Restricts Gender-Affirming Care

After months of anticipation from concerned families, educators, and medical professionals, South Carolina has officially passed House Bill 4624, a very harmful and discriminatory anti-trans bill that bans health care for trans youth and reinforces educators to “out” students.

House Bill 4624 declares that it is now in effect to ban necessary healthcare for transgender youth under the age of 18. This includes hormone therapy, puberty blockers, and gender-affirming surgery. In addition, it is now restricted for transgender people of any age in South Carolina to continue access to gender-affirming care costs covered under Medicare or public funds.

The state also heavily encourages educators to reach out to family members if they observe that students’ “perception of gender or sex is inconsistent,” even if students are not mentally prepared to open up to their loved ones. In other words, “outing” students on preconceived judgment based on appearance and preferred pronouns, which would be a discriminatory act and a total invasion of privacy. It’s truly heartbreaking how SC is pushing estrangement on trans youth.

With no adults to trust, what safe heaven is left for the trans youth in South Carolina? A report from the National Alliance to End Homelessness (NAEH) state that 56% of unsheltered people are trans and 78% are gender non-conforming. “Outing” underage students brings a high risk of being turned away from their families, as unfortunately, one of the main reasons LGBTQ+ youth ages 12–24 end up unhoused is from being forced to leave home after coming out. That applies to one in four LGBTQ+ teens. This can harm someone for a lifetime.

Thankfully, many advocates have decided to not give up and continue to show up with love and support for trans youth. There are currently  options to sign a Veto to Bill 4624, which could overturn this harmful bill. 

SC United for Justice & Equality shared on X:

as they continuously choose to show up and advocate for the trans community.

House Bill 4707 was also filled, proposing that health care providers who continue to support transgender youth can get convicted of a felony charge and face up to 20 years in prison. Bettering the lives of trans youth shouldn’t have to cost anyone their legal freedom.

Senator Brad Hutto spoke during the bill’s hearing:

“Standard of care should not be criminalized. I had the pleasure of teaching two medical students in my class earlier this year, bright, bright young ladies, both of whom raised in SC, went through the schools in SC, accepted to the medical school here in the University of SC, and are seriously thinking about leaving this state because we are criminalizing the practice of medicine.”

It is important to acknowledge how harmful the neglect of transgender care is. Living a highly stressful life can even manifest into long-term medical issues. The American Heart Association reported trans men having heart strokes twice as likely as cis men, indicating that depriving trans youth of basic care is only scratching the surface of life-threatening issues.

Leaving the conclusion that if South Carolina does not recognize how extremely harmful this discriminatory bill is, trans youth are at high risk of leading a mental, physical, and behavioral unhealthy life with a high risk of homelessness, life-threatening issues, and, in the worst case, suicide. This bill is dehumanizing the trans community, as it inconsiderately endangers the life of someone’s child, best friend, or partner by depriving them of their basic medical care.

Advocates in SC gathered and prepared resources to support families affected by this bill. The Southern Trans Youth Emergency Project (STYEP) helps transgender youth whose access to gender-affirming care has been restricted by the new government policy. Families can obtain trusted information from out-of-state gender-affirming care providers as well as emergency grants of $500 that include travel, medication, and other logistics.