By Dr. Alexis Chavez, medical director for The Trevor Project

Denying transgender patients best-practice medical care is dangerous and harmful. Yet, state legislators in South Dakota, Florida and South Carolina have introduced legislation that would criminalize medically necessary care for transgender minors.

Gender-affirming care clearly demonstrates positive effects on mental health outcomes and overall psychological well-being, along with decreased suicidality. The proposed bill in South Dakota would make the provision of this lifesaving care a class 1 misdemeanor, threatening doctors with imprisonment. The bill, House Bill 1057, passed in the Statehouse by a vote of 46-23 late Wednesday. It now heads to the state Senate.

And legislators in other states are looking to follow suit. As the medical director at the world's largest suicide prevention and crisis intervention organization for LGBTQ youth, I can tell you that these bills not only contradict reality and majority medical opinion in the United States — they would also put young lives in jeopardy.

At The Trevor Project, we constantly hear from transgender youth in crisis who want nothing more than to be recognized for who they are. Respecting and affirming a young person’s identity is crucial to their health and well-being. Medical organizations have utilized decades of scientific research and on-the-ground experience to shape these evidence-based practices, and each study only adds to a growing consensus. For children who do not identify with their sex assigned at birth, there are well-documented psychological benefits to being allowed to socially transition or to receive appropriate medical care. Read more via NBC