INDIANAPOLIS — Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb signed a bill banning all gender-affirming care for minors on Wednesday, less than 24 hours after he called the bill "clear as mud."
"It wasn't part of my agenda," Holcomb told reporters 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."
(EDITOR'S NOTE: The video in the player above is a report on Gov. Holcomb considering signing the bill.)
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.
“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."
That means the ban will take effect July 1. Starting on that date, transgender youth under 18 will be prohibited from accessing hormone therapies, puberty blockers and surgeries in the state.
Trans youth currently taking medication to transition will have until the end of the year to stop doing so.
“This is a devastating development for transgender youth in Indiana and heartbreaking for all of us who love and support them," Jane Henegar, the executive director of ACLU of Indiana, said in a statement. "In addition to targeting an already vulnerable group, this law blatantly disregards the rights of parents and families to make decisions about their children’s health."
The bill banning gender-affirming care in Indiana won approval by wide margins in both the House and Senate.
At least 11 states have enacted laws restricting or banning gender-affirming care for minors, but federal judges have blocked them in Alabama and Arkansas. Around two dozen other states are considering bills to restrict or ban care.
The American Civil Liberties Union and the ACLU of Indiana filed a legal challenge on Wednesday, almost immediately after the news broke that Holcomb signed the bill.
The ACLU says bans, like the one Holcomb signed, are opposed by the American Medical Association, the American Psychological Association, and the American Academy of Pediatrics.
"The ACLU is dedicated to overturning this unconstitutional law and is confident the state will find itself completely incapable of defending it in court," Henegar said.
The ACLU also intends to challenge new and proposed bans on gender-affirming care in Tennessee, Oklahoma, Kentucky, Utah, and Montana.
The ACLU and the ACLU of Arkansas challenged Arkansas’ ban, the first in the nation and the subject of a two-week trial in the fall of 2022. The federal judge in that Arkansas trial will soon issue a ruling.