Rep. Nancy Mace Mocks 'Lunatics' Protesting Landmark Trans Rights Case, Calls Gender-Affirming Care 'Child Abuse'

South Carolina Rep. Nancy Mace wasted no time mocking protesters gathered outside of the Supreme Court in Washington D.C. to encourage the SCOTUS to overturn Tennessee's ban on gender-affirming care for minors.

"You can see the lunatic protesters there," Mace said in the video opening, with a clown sticker over the group.

"The Supreme Court is hearing a case today about Tennessee and quote gender-affirming care, whatever the f--k that is. Actually, that's child abuse, as all of us know," she continued. "They want to pump our kids full of hormones and have devastating consequences to it."

Mace, who introduced a bill requiring individuals use single-sex facilities on all federal properties based on their "biological sex" after Sarah McBride, a transgender woman, was the first to be elected into Congress, then bizarrely stated kids aren't hamsters or guinea pigs and shouldn't be "experimented on" or "pumped up or overdosed with hormones."

"I mean, that's what we're talking about today. It's disgusting. It's gonna do permanent damage to these children, and they don't need it. And they shouldn't have it. It shouldn't be paid for by the government either. It's nonsense," she added.

"These people are raging lunatics, Mace declared.

Including Tennessee, 23 states have adopted laws or policies that ban or severely limit gender-affirming care for minors while others look into doing the same, according to the Association of American Medical Colleges. Experts estimate these laws would affect more than 144,000 young people seeking gender-affirming care.

Contrary to Mace's comments, a Harvard study found that zero gender-affirming surgeries were performed on transgender youth ages 12 and younger in 2019, and a majority of the teens undergoing surgeries were chest surgeries.

When considering use of gender-affirming breast reductions among cisgender males, men who were assigned male at birth, and transgender people, the study found that cisgender males accounted for the vast majority of breast reductions, with 80% of surgeries among adults performed on cisgender men and 97% of surgeries among minors performed on cisgender male teens.

"We found that gender-affirming surgeries are rarely performed for transgender minors, suggesting that U.S. surgeons are appropriately following international guidelines around assessment and care," said co-author Elizabeth Boskey.

"Our findings suggest that legislation blocking gender-affirming care among TGD youth is not about protecting children, but is rooted in bias and stigma against TGD identities and seeks to address a perceived problem that does not actually exist," added lead author Dannie Dai.

Although the Supreme Court is expected to uphold Tennessee's ban, according to AP News, a final decision will not be made for several months.