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Yesterday, the West Virginia House of Delegates approved an amendment from Del. J.B. Akers (R) to allow a child’s “treating health care provider” to examine a child’s genitals without the consent of their parents.
The amendment was actually an improvement over a previous version of the bill, which, state Democrats argued, would have allowed teachers to perform the genital examinations.
Akers’ amendment was the Republican response to one proposed by Del. Kayla Young (D), which would have banned child and adult genital examinations altogether.
“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.”
It also says that all intersex people are “either male or female” but does not give a basis for assigning a sex to them.