OKLAHOMA CITY (LifeSiteNews) — The governor of Oklahoma signed a bill into law on Monday that makes the state the latest to ban drugs and surgeries for gender-confused minors. 

Republican Gov. Kevin Stitt enacted the country’s most recent legislation to effectively eliminate child mutilation for kids experiencing gender dysphoria and paving the way for victims of such abuse to take legal action against those who perpetrated it. 

SB 613 states that “a health care provider shall not knowingly provide gender transition procedures to any child” and that those who violate the law “shall, upon conviction, be guilty of a felony.” Additionally, “an adverse ruling by the provider’s respective licensing board” would make him or her “guilty of unprofessional conduct.” 

READ: LGBT activist attacks lawmaker, police officer after Oklahoma House votes to ban child ‘sex changes’ 

The law defines “gender transition procedures” as “surgical procedures that alter or remove physical or anatomical characteristics or features that are typical for the individual’s biological sex” and “puberty-blocking drugs, cross-sex hormones, or other drugs to suppress or delay normal puberty or to promote the development of feminizing or masculinizing features consistent with the opposite biological sex.” 

Exceptions for the use of these drugs and surgeries include cases of developmental disorders and physical injuries or diseases that would threaten the life of a minor patient without the use of such procedures. Children who are already taking puberty blockers or cross-sex hormones are permitted to continue them for “not more than six months” after the effective date of the law “solely for the purpose of assisting the minor with gradually decreasing and discontinuing use of the drugs or hormones.” 

The law states that “disciplinary proceedings against the health care provider may be commenced at any time after the commission of such offense” until the victimized child turns 45 years old. 

Violators of the law face the loss of their license to practice medicine in the state, in addition to felony charges. The attorney general is also given authority, under the law, to initiate action to enforce the legislation. 

Upon signing the bill, Gov. Stitt announced the action on Twitter, saying that “we must protect our kids!” 

I just signed into law a statewide ban on all gender transition surgeries and hormone therapies for children under 18. We must protect our kids!https://t.co/BJlX4BBY4c

— Governor Kevin Stitt (@GovStitt) May 2, 2023

“Last year, I called for a statewide ban on all irreversible gender transition surgeries and hormone therapies on minors, and I am thrilled to sign this into law today and protect our kids,” he said in a statement. “We cannot turn a blind eye to what’s happening across our nation, and as governor I am proud to stand up for what’s right and ban life-altering transition surgeries on children in the state of Oklahoma.” 

READ: ‘Child abuse’: Ted Cruz demands answers from Texas hospital caught ‘transitioning’ 8-year-olds

Executive director of Heritage Action Jessica Anderson commended the new law on behalf of the conservative organization, stating that “experimental surgeries that remove healthy body parts and dangerous cross-sex hormones are not the compassionate solution children suffering from gender confusion need.”  

“These so-called ‘treatments’ fail to resolve underlying mental health issues and often lead to irreversible physical harm, psychological damage, and even potential sterilization,” she continued, according to a May 2 press release. “With the Left’s growing push to force radical gender ideology on Americans, it’s more important than ever for states to do their part to protect our nation’s children.” 

“Denying the truth that we are either male or female hurts real people, especially vulnerable children,” Matt Sharp, senior counsel and director of the Center for Legislative Advocacy with Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) said in a statement. “Young people deserve to live in a society that doesn’t subject them to risky experiments to which they cannot effectively consent, including so-called ‘gender transition’ surgeries and drugs.” 

“By enacting this legislation, Oklahoma has taken a critical step toward protecting children and parents from being pressured into life-altering, often-sterilizing surgeries and drugs.” 

The new law comes months after state lawmakers passed a bill designed to prohibit state funding for “gender transitions.” When Stitt signed the law in October, he promised to call for a complete ban on the dangerous drugs and surgeries during the 2023 legislative session, a promise which came to fulfillment on Monday despite protests from LGBT activists. 

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