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West Virginia Gov. Patrick Morrisey speaks during a news conference at the Health and Human Services Department on April 22, in Washington, D.C.
The new law also redefines sex, threatens doctors with the loss of their medical licenses, and allows minors to sue in court.
West Virginia Republican Gov. Patrick Morrisey signed a bill into law Wednesday to fully ban gender-affirming care for transgender youth. It removes an exception in the previous ban, passed in 2023, that allowed young people considered at risk for suicide or other self-harm to receive the care.
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The new law also refines how the state officially views sex and gender, and strengthens the governor’s ability to enforce compliance by health care and telemedicine practitioners.
Senate Bill 299, officially titled Modifying WV Regulations on Pubertal Modulation, Hormonal Therapy, and Gender Reassignment, closed what right-winders a loophole in the 2023 ban. The bill easily passed the Republican-dominated state Senate and House by votes of 32 to 2 and 86 to 12, respectively.
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“WV Gov. Patrick Morrisey just signed SB 299, CLOSING a loophole in the state's ban on gender transition procedures for minors,” the governor’s office posted to social media. “This new law protects ALL WV kids, especially the most vulnerable.”
The bill amends existing law to target telemedicine providers as well as other health care practitioners and spells out banned types of gender-affirming care for minors.
The bill also redefines sex as “the state of being either male or female as observed or clinically verified at birth. There are only two sexes, and every individual is either male or female” except in some “medically verifiable ‘DSD conditions’ (sometimes referred to as ‘differences in sex development,’ ‘disorders in sex development,’ or ‘intersex conditions’).”
The amended law now has an enforcement mechanism to force compliance, threatening doctors with the loss of their license.
“If a physician provides either gender reassignment surgery or gender altering medication to a person who is under 18 years of age, the appropriate licensing board shall find the physician in violation of this section and shall immediately revoke the license of the physician,” the new law states.
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The new bill also allows minors to sue gender-affirming care providers for damages up until the age of 20.
SB 299 was one of several signed by Morrisey as the deadline to do so loomed, including a "don't say gay" bill banning instruction related to sexual orientation or gender identity in public schools and forcing teachers to out their trans students, "even if a teacher has reason to believe the student could face mistreatment or neglect because of their identity," as the American Civil Liberties Union of West Virginia notes, and one eliminating diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives in the state.
If you or someone you know needs mental health support, please call, text, or chat with the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline or visit988lifeline.org for 24/7 access to free and confidential services. Trans Lifeline, designed for transgender or gender-nonconforming people, can be reached at (877) 565-8860, and also also provides resources to help with other crises, such as domestic violence situations. The Trevor Project Lifeline, for LGBTQ+ youth (ages 24 and younger), can be reached at (866) 488-7386. Users can also access chat services at TheTrevorProject.org/Help or text START to 678678.
