Georgia bans sex changes for minors

Georgia Republican Gov. Brian Kemp on Thursday signed into law a ban on sex changes for minors.

The state House passed the measure 96-75 last week while the Senate granted its assent earlier in March by a 33-22 margin. The legislature sent the bill to Kemp's desk on Wednesday.

"Today, I signed SB 140 into law to ensure we protect the health and wellbeing of Georgia's children," Kemp said in a statement. "As Georgians, parents, and elected leaders, it is our highest responsibility to safeguard the bright, promising futures of our kids - and SB 140 takes an important step in fulfilling that mission."

While the bill does not ban the surgeries or treatments outright, it does require a potential recipient to wait until reaching the age of majority before receiving them. Georgia's age of majority is 18.

"Under the principle of 'do no harm,' taking a wait-and-see approach to minors with gender dysphoria, providing counseling, and allowing the child time to mature and develop his or her own identity is preferable to causing the child permanent physical damage," the bill reads, according to the Epoch Times.

The bill acknowledges the irreversible nature of some gender related treatments when justifying the ban. It does allow exceptions for those already receiving such treatments and those with medical conditions other than gender dysphoria such as those possessing ambiguous genitalia or who have hormone insensitivity, per the outlet.

Ben Whedon is an editor and reporter for Just the News. Follow him on Twitter.