Today, in a 5-2 vote, the Senate Health and Human Services Committee voted to kill amended legislation that would prohibit doctors for providing medically necessary care to transgender youth and take away parents’ rights to make decisions about their children’s care.
The ACLU of South Dakota opposed House Bill 1057. It is unconstitutional to single out one group of people and categorically ban all care, no matter how medically necessary.
“Though supporters claimed House Bill 1057 was aimed at protecting vulnerable youth, it was clearly fueled by a fear and misunderstanding of transgender South Dakotans,” said Libby Skarin, policy director for the ACLU of South Dakota. “It’s time we stop these attacks and the very real harm they cause to transgender youth across our state. Let this be a signal to the South Dakota Legislature that discrimination against a marginalized group is a distraction from the needs of the state and hurts us all.”
In addition to the ACLU of South Dakota, companies and organizations like the Sanford Health, the South Dakota Chapter of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, the South Dakota Pharmacists Association, the South Dakota Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the South Dakota State Medical Association, the South Dakota Retailers Association, the Sioux Falls Area Chamber of Commerce, LEAD South Dakota and the Human Rights Campaign also opposed House Bill 1057.
About the ACLU of South Dakota
Decisions made during the annual sessions of the South Dakota Legislature have a deep and lasting impact on our state’s people and communities. As new laws are created and others repealed or written, it’s important to ensure that these changes preserve and strengthen our constitutional rights.
Based in Sioux Falls, the American Civil Liberties Union of South Dakota is a non-partisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to the preservation and enhancement of civil liberties and civil rights. The ACLU of South Dakota is part of a three-state chapter that also includes North Dakota and Wyoming. The team in South Dakota is supported by staff in those states.
The ACLU believes freedoms of press, speech, assembly, and religion, and the rights to due process, equal protection and privacy, are fundamental to a free people. In addition, the ACLU seeks to advance constitutional protections for groups traditionally denied their rights, including people of color, women, and the LGBTQ communities. The ACLU of South Dakota carries out its work through selective litigation, lobbying at the state and local level, and through public education and awareness of what the Bill of Rights means for the people of South Dakota.
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