While the federal government is overturning the pro-life and pro-family initiatives achieved by the Trump Administration, many states are seeking to protect God-given gender identity and the unborn.

View Comments (6)

In 2020,19 state bills were introduced to protect children from gender experimentation. Many more bills protecting children from the transgender rights lobby have been introduced in the 2021 legislative sessions of several states.

Most recently, the Arkansas General Assembly passed HB 1570, the Save Adolescents From Experimentation (SAFE) Act.  This became law after the legislature overrode Governor Asa Hutchinson’s veto. This week on IFA’s Pray for America’s Leaders webcast the author of the (SAFE) Act, Representative  Robin Lundstrum discussed this Act and this trend in state legislation. To Watch here.

In Texas (SB 1311 and HB 1399) and in Michigan (SB 218) bills (broadly labeled SAFE Act bills or gender reassignment prevention) have been introduced to address the following three concerns:

• “Gender transition” is an experiment; no “treatment” can change a person’s genetic composition, and no studies have demonstrated long-term benefits.
• The government should not force taxpayers to fund it, insurers to cover it, or children to be subjected to it.
• The SAFE Act would provide legal remedies for minors who have been permanently disfigured and/or sterilized.

Most recently, a South Carolina Democrat, state Rep. Cezar McKnight, introduced the “South Carolina Vulnerable Child Compassion and Protection Act.”  This measure would ban minors from being able to receive transgender surgeries or medical treatments.

The bill states in part: “…no person shall engage in, counsel, make a referral for, or cause any of the following practices to be performed upon a minor if the practice is performed for the purpose of attempting to alter the appearance of or affirm the minor’s perception of the minor’s gender or sex…”

Protecting the Unborn:

Legislators in Texas just voted out of committee, Respecting Texas Patients’ Right to Life Act (HB 2609) which will end the 10 Day Rule (a sort of euthanasia waiting period) and will protect pro-life doctors from being forced to violate their conscience and participate in life-ending procedures.

Arizona State House just proposed the Equal Opportunity of Life Act. The bill would define an “unborn child in the womb at any state of development” as a “person” under state law. This measure would also ban the use of tax dollars to fund abortions. The House Majority Leader and Majority Whip are co-sponsoring the legislation.

Utah passed a law that would require the biological father to pay up to 50% of a pregnant woman’s out-of-pocket medical costs, including health insurance premiums and hospital birth costs. HB113 was sponsored by Rep. Brady Brammer.

Ohio, under the Unborn Child Dignity Act, seeks to promote the dignity of the unborn following abortion by requiring proper burial through cremation or internment while strengthening Ohio’s laws on informed consent.

Tennessee bills SB 0494 and HB1079, sponsored by State Sen. Mark Pody and State Rep. Jerry Sexton “permits a person to petition a court for an injunction to prohibit a woman who is pregnant with the person’s unborn child from obtaining an abortion.”

Find out what’s happening in your state! Visit the new Pray for America’s Leaders website–check out Legislative Updates and your state page to see what people are praying about. Pray with us Live on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 12:15 pm ET —IFApray.org/LIVE or (713) 775-7430.

(Camille Solberg is the IFA Legislative Director.)