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July 2024

8 entries from July 2024.

Jul 23

Penn State Health St. Joseph canceled a non-binary patient's scheduled mastectomy citing Catholic doctrine

On July 23, 2024, administrators at Penn State Health St. Joseph Medical Center in Reading, Pennsylvania contacted EJ Stiles, a 23-year-old non-binary patient, less than 24 hours before a scheduled double mastectomy to cancel the procedure, telling Stiles it was "not in alignment with directives of the Catholic Church." Penn State Health acquired St. Joseph Medical Center in 2015, converting it from a private Catholic facility into part of a public university hospital system, yet the network continued allowing the hospital to enforce Catholic healthcare directives that barred gender-affirming care. Stiles was forced to wait months before obtaining the same surgery at another Penn State Health facility.

Jul 19

New Hampshire enacted HB1205 barring transgender girls from girls' school sports in grades 5-12

On July 19, 2024, New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu signed HB1205 (Chapter 228) into law, requiring interscholastic and club athletic teams for grades 5 through 12 to be designated male, female, or coed and barring students of "the male sex" from teams designated for females — a birth-certificate-based eligibility standard that, as written, excludes transgender girls from girls' teams regardless of their gender identity. Eligibility is set by the student's biological sex on a birth certificate issued at or near birth, with other proof required at the family's expense if unavailable. The law creates private rights of action against schools and athletic associations that fail to comply and took effect August 18, 2024.

New Hampshire enacted HB619 barring genital gender-reassignment surgery on minors

On July 19, 2024, New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu signed HB619 (Chapter 213) into law, barring physicians from performing genital gender-reassignment surgery on anyone under 18 in the state and prohibiting referrals to out-of-state providers for the same procedures. The law classifies violations as unprofessional conduct subject to medical-board discipline and creates a private right of action allowing an affected minor or their parent to sue the treating physician, with carve-outs for reconstructive procedures, disorders of sex development, and male circumcision. It took effect January 1, 2025.

New Hampshire Gov. Sununu signed HB 1312, mandating LGBTQ+ curriculum notice and parental disclosure of students' gender identity

On July 19, 2024, New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu signed HB 1312 into law, amending RSA 186:11 to require school districts to give parents at least two weeks' written notice, with an opt-out, before teaching any curriculum covering sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, or gender expression. The law also bars districts from any policy that lets staff withhold from a parent information about a student's gender identity or health, effectively compelling disclosure regardless of the student's wishes. The Republican-controlled New Hampshire General Court had passed the measure in narrow, party-line votes earlier that year.

Jul 4

SFPD officer smashed driver's car window, pepper-sprayed him during 2024 stop based on license-plate error

On July 4, 2024, San Francisco police officers Vinesh Govindbhai and Jonathan Zepeda stopped driver Matthew Ludwig at a red light on O'Farrell Street after entering a Toyota's license plate number instead of his Honda Accord's and wrongly concluding his car was stolen; Govindbhai smashed Ludwig's window with a baton, the officers pulled him to the pavement, and pepper-sprayed him in the face at a distance violating department policy, then cited him for reckless driving and resisting arrest even after realizing their mistake. In March 2026, the San Francisco Department of Police Accountability sustained findings that the officers used unnecessary force and issued the citation without cause; the Public Defender's Office made the findings public on August 10, 2026, after Ludwig died in September 2025.

Jul 3

South Carolina enacted a budget proviso barring transgender K-12 students from restrooms matching their gender identity

South Carolina's FY2024-25 General Appropriations Act (H.5100, ratified as R-252) took effect on July 3, 2024, carrying Budget Proviso 1.120, which requires all K-12 public school districts to designate multi-occupancy restrooms, locker rooms, changing facilities, and overnight sleeping quarters for use by students of one biological sex only. The proviso withholds 25 percent of a district's state operating funds for a violation. Gov. Henry McMaster issued 21 line-item vetoes to the budget that day on unrelated appropriations, leaving Proviso 1.120 untouched and in force for the 2024-25 school year.

Jul 2

Florida Department of Education pressured science-textbook publishers to soften or remove climate-change content for 2024 state approval

During Florida's 2024 science-textbook review cycle, the Florida Department of Education directed three publishers -- Savvas Learning, McGraw Hill, and Cengage -- to soften or remove accurate climate-change content from science textbooks as a condition of state approval, including replacing a mortality statistic with vaguer language and cutting references to renewable energy and legislative climate action. A July 2, 2024 email from a McGraw Hill vice president to FDOE's instructional materials office documents the specific changes department officials requested. Textbooks touching climate content were adopted by the state at less than half the rate of other science subjects reviewed that cycle.

Jul 1

Biden administration began funding Panama's deportation of US-bound migrants

The Biden administration signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Panama on July 1, 2024, under which the U.S. State Department and DHS fund and help run Panama's own deportation flights for migrants transiting toward the United States through the Darién Gap. The Congressional Hispanic and Black Caucuses had urged the administration to halt the funding before it was finalized, warning Panama's asylum system lacked the capacity to screen people — particularly Venezuelans and Haitians fleeing persecution — before returning them to danger.