BRIDGEPORT, W.Va (WDTV) – The West Virginia Democratic Party is calling on the lawmakers to immediately remove an amendment that would allow health care providers to visually inspect a child’s genitals for purposes of verifying biological sex without parental consent from Senate Bill 456.
The amendment was introduced by House Judiciary Chair J.B. Akers
The bill would reaffirm the meaning of sex, male, and female in state law, “preserve single-sex spaces” for women, and “promoting accuracy in sex-based data collection.”
Delegate Kayla Young (D-Kanawha County) says she introduced an amendment in the house that would require parental consent to physicians checking children’s genitals. That amendment was largely rejected.
“It’s unconscionable that Republicans would support legislation that authorizes intrusive visual inspections of minors without parental approval,” Young said. “West Virginians should be alarmed and disgusted by this invasion of privacy.”
SB 456 was passed by the Senate Tuesday 32-1 with one Senator absent for the vote. In the House, 90 delegates voted in favor, eight opposed, and two were absent.
It now heads to Governor Patrick Morrisey’s desk to be signed into law.
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