W. Va. Code § 30-14-17 — WV Code / Chapter 30 / Article 14 / Section 17
§30-14-17. Prohibited practice.
Status: in_force

(a) For the purposes of this section:

"Gender" means the psychological, behavioral, social, and cultural aspects of being male or female.

"Gender altering medication" means the prescribing or administering of the following for the purpose of assisting an individual with a gender transition:

(1) Gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) analogues or other puberty blocking medication to stop or delay normal puberty; and

(2) Supraphysiologic doses of testosterone, estrogen, or other androgens than would normally be produced endogenously in a healthy individual of the same age and sex.

"Gender reassignment surgery" means a surgical procedure performed for the purpose of assisting an individual with a gender transition, including any of the following:

(1) Penectomy, orchiectomy, vaginoplasty, clitoroplasty, vulvoplasty, hysterectomy, or ovariectomy;

(2) Metoidioplasty, phalloplasty, vaginectomy, scrotoplasty, or implantation of erection or testicular prostheses; and

(3) Augmentation mammoplasty, and subcutaneous mastectomy, or any plastic, cosmetic, or aesthetic surgery that feminizes or masculinizes the facial or other body features of an individual.

"Gender transition" means the process in which a person goes from identifying with and living as a gender that corresponds to the person’s sex to identifying with and living as a gender different from the person’s sex and may involve social, legal, or physical changes.

"Sex” means the state of being either male or female as observed or clinically verified at birth. There are only two sexes, and every individual is either male or female: Provided , That individuals with congenital and medically verifiable "DSD conditions" (sometimes referred to as "differences in sex development", "disorders in sex development", or "intersex conditions") are not members of a third sex and must be accommodated consistent with state and federal law.

(b) A physician may not provide gender reassignment surgery or gender altering medication to a person who is under 18 years of age.

(c) A physician may provide any of the following to a person who is under 18 years of age:

(1) Services provided to an individual born with a medically verifiable disorder of sex development, including, but not limited to, a person with external sex characteristics that are irresolvably ambiguous, such as an individual born with 46 xx chromosomes with virilization, 46 xy chromosomes with undervirilization, or having both ovarian and testicular tissue;

(2) Services provided to an individual when a physician has otherwise diagnosed a disorder of sexual development and in which the physician has determined through genetic or biochemical testing that the individual does not have normal sex chromosome structure, sex steroid hormone production, or sex steroid hormone action;

(3) The treatment of any infection, injury, disease, or disorder that has been caused by or exacerbated by the performance of gender transition procedures, whether or not these procedures were performed in accordance with state and federal law; and

(4) Any procedure undertaken because the individual suffers from a physical disorder, physical injury, or physical illness that would, as certified by a physician, place the person in imminent danger of death, or impairment of a major bodily function unless surgery is performed.

(d) The provisions of this section are effective on January 1, 2024. The amendments made to this article during the 2025 regular session of the Legislature shall be effective on August 1, 2025.

(e) If a physician provides either gender reassignment surgery or gender altering medication to a person who is under 18 years of age, the appropriate licensing board shall find the physician in violation of this section and shall immediately revoke the license of the physician.

(f) A person may assert an actual or threatened violation of this section as a claim or defense in a judicial or administrative proceeding and obtain compensatory damages, injunctive relief, declaratory relief, reasonable attorneys’ fees, and any other appropriate relief. A person shall bring a claim for a violation of this section not later than two years after the day the cause of action accrues. A minor may bring an action before reaching 18 years of age through a parent or guardian and may bring an action in the minor's own name upon reaching 18 years of age at any time from that point until 20 years after. Inasmuch as the Legislature intends to make unlawful the provision of gender reassignment surgery or gender altering medication to a minor, it is the intent of the Legislature that this section be exempt from compliance with §55-7B-6 of this code.

(g) The Attorney General may bring an action to enforce compliance with this section. Nothing in this section shall be construed to deny, impair, or otherwise affect any right or authority of the Attorney General, the state, or any agency, officer, or employee of the state to institute or intervene in any proceeding.

(h) If any provision of this section, or the application thereof to any provision or circumstance, shall be held unconstitutional or otherwise invalid, such invalidity or unconstitutionality shall not affect the provisions or application of this section which can be given effect without the unconstitutional or invalid provisions of application, and to this end the provisions of this section are declared to be severable.