Puerto Rico’s Republican Gov. Jenniffer González-Colón signed legislation this week banning sex change drugs and surgeries for individuals under 21 years old.
The law was approved on Wednesday and will go into effect in October. It carries criminal penalties, punishing health care professionals who violate the law with a $50,000 fine per violation and a determinate prison sentence of 15 years, The Hill reported. Charged doctors would also be stripped of their licenses and permits and be permanently banned from practicing in the U.S. territory.
“Minors, having not yet reached the necessary emotional, cognitive, and physical maturity, are particularly vulnerable to making decisions that can have irreversible consequences,” the law reads. “Therefore, it is the State’s duty to ensure their comprehensive well-being.”
In Puerto Rico, legal adulthood begins at 21, making the state’s ban on sex changes for minors the most limiting of any U.S. state or territory, according to the report. Approximately half of the United States has blocked minors under 18 years old from having access to mutilating sex change drugs and surgeries.
Similar laws in Nebraska and Alabama banned sex changes for individuals up to 19 years old. President Trump similarly signed an executive order in January ending federal support of sex changes for individuals 18 and under.
Additionally, the Supreme Court upheld Tennessee’s law banning sex changes for minors in June, effectively striking down similar challenges to other red state laws protecting youth from mutilation.
The side effects of sex change drugs and procedures can be severe, including irreversible removal of body parts and infertility. Some of these so-called treatments include double mastectomies (the removal of healthy breasts), female and male genital mutilation and removal, facial feminization and masculinization, voice alteration, hormone treatments, and puberty blockers that can cause chemical sterilization. Puberty blockers can also have long-term impact on bone growth, bone density, and growth spurts, according to Mayo Clinic.
Katherine Hamilton is a political reporter for Breitbart News. You can follow her on X @thekat_hamilton.
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