We are writing to ask all our fellow North Carolinians to join us in voicing strong opposition to state Senate Bill 514. It is sponsored by N.C. Sens. Ralph Hise, Warren Daniel and Norman Sanderson, and co-sponsored by Sens. Bob Steinburg, Chuck Edwards, Joyce Krawiec and Paul Newton. They call it the Youth Health Protection Act. It is anything but that. This bill is an assault on transgender health care. It is even more restrictive than similar bills introduced in other states (like the one recently vetoed by the conservative Republican governor of Arkansas because he deemed it âtoo extremeâ). It would prevent not only transgender youth under age 18 from receiving gender-affirming health care, but even those age 18-21. Additionally, it threatens doctors who provide such care with steep fines and the loss of their licenses. It compels state employees (e.g., teachers) to immediately notify parents in writing if their child displays âgender nonconformity.â Teachers who fail to do so may face âdiscipline.â Finally, it protects and encourages the use of conversion âtherapy,â which has been decried by medical experts as both dangerous and ineffective. If the Arkansas bill was extreme, this bill can only be characterized as cruel.