INDIANAPOLIS — Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb signed a bill banning all gender-affirming care for minors Wednesday, less than 24 hours after calling it "clear as mud."
Indiana now joins at least 12 other states that have enacted laws restricting or banning such care.
Holcomb signed the legislation, SB 480 after Republican majorities in the legislature overwhelmingly voted to pass it.
The law will go into effect July 1, and trans youth currently taking medication to transition would have until the end of the year to stop doing so.
Holcomb had told reporters Tuesday that the bill on his desk was vague and had not indicated he would sign it or veto it.
"It wasn't part of my agenda," Holcomb said, Tuesday. "I've told some people very close to me: This is clear as mud. There's some vagueness to it. So I want to make sure I completely understand."
Holcomb had until Wednesday to either sign or veto the bill or allow it to become law by doing nothing.
He elected to sign it, sharing the following statement with WHAS11's sister station in Indianapolis, WTHR:
“Permanent gender-changing surgeries with lifelong impacts and medically prescribed preparation for such a transition should occur as an adult, not as a minor," Holcomb said in a statement. "There has and will continue to be debate within the medical community about the best ways to provide physical and mental health care for adolescents who are struggling with their own gender identity, and it is important that we recognize and understand those struggles are real. With all of that in mind, I have decided to sign SB 480 into law."
Supporters of the legislation have contended such care is not reversible or carries side effects that only an adult — and not a minor's parent — can consent to.
Lawmakers also banned gender-transition surgeries for minors in the state, though hospital representatives in Indiana told lawmakers doctors do not perform genital surgeries for minors or provide them surgery referrals.
Opponents of the legislation said the types of care the bill would ban, such as hormone therapy and puberty blockers, are vital and often life-saving for transgender kids.
"We have a lot of youth coming and saying, 'I'm really panicking about what's going to happen. I'm already feeling so pressured and so hopeless,'" Zoe O'Haillin-Berne, with Indiana Youth Group said. "And now the state is going to do even more to take even more sense of power."
SB 480 sponsor, Sen. Gary Byrne (R-Byrneville) shared the following statement with WHAS11 after the bill was signed, reading in part:
"The most basic principle of medicine is to 'do no harm,' yet some U.S. doctors and hospitals are committed to performing irreversible gender transition procedures on our children while other countries are scaling back.
This bill is common-sense public policy that protects vulnerable Hoosier kids from unproven procedures. I have the utmost compassion for our children, and this bill protects them from receiving life-altering treatment before they are adults."
According to the ACLU-Indiana, "Every major medical association supports treating transgender youth with gender-affirming medical care," including the American Medical Association, the American Psychological Association and the American Academy of Pediatrics.
O'Haillin-Berne said there are two medical institutions in Indiana that currently provide gender-affirming care, and neither provides surgical care to minors.
The American Civil Liberties Union and the ACLU of Indiana intend to challenge the law in court.
Medical providers say most of the procedures banned in the bill are reversible and safe for minors. Transgender medical treatments for children and teens have been available in the U.S. for more than a decade and are endorsed by major medical associations.
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