South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem on Monday, Feb. 13, signed into law a bill that prohibits healthcare professionals from using drugs, hormones or surgery to alter the appearance of the sex of a minor.

Under the “Help Not Harm Act,” healthcare professionals who violate the law will lose their professional license or certificate. If they have already begun a course of treatment on a minor, that treatment must stop. If immediate termination of the treatment would harm the minor, the treatment may be “systematically reduced,” but it must end by Dec. 31, 2023.

“South Dakota’s kids are our future,” Noem said. “With this legislation, we are protecting kids from harmful, permanent medical procedures. I will always stand up for the next generation of South Dakotans.”

South Dakota joins Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Texas, Florida and Utah in moving to protect minors from such treatments.

Although many of the mainstream medical associations approve of these treatments, a growing number of scientific agencies do not recommend them, according to a report by the Institute for Research & Evaluation. Among the report’s findings:

“Scientific evidence has not shown that cross-sex medical treatments are beneficial to children or adolescents. The research making these claims is not scientifically reliable. In fact, there is evidence of harmful impact.

“Research does not show that medical gender transition is necessary to prevent suicide. In fact, there is evidence that medical transition procedures may increase suicide risk in gender-confused teens.

“Research shows gender dysphoria in children usually goes away on its own by young adulthood, if ‘transition’ is not encouraged. This avoids the harmful effects of cross-sex medical interventions.”

Above: South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem speaks at the Reagan Library in April 2022.

Photo: Brian Cahn/ZUMAPRESS/Newscom